SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 


SPEAKING  OF 
THE    TURKS 


BY 


MUFTY-ZADE  K.   ZIA   BEY 


NEW  YORK 

DUFFIELD  AND  COMPANY 
1922 


Copyright,  1922,  by 

DUFFIELD  8c   COMPANY 


Printed  in  U.  S.  A. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  Homecoming      . 3 

II.  Summer  Months 16 

III.  Erenkeuy 29 

IV.  Modern  Turkish  Women 47 

V.  Life  on  the  Bosphorus 67 

VI.  Stamboul 87 

VII.  Business  in  Constantinople      .     .      .     .     .  107 

VIII.  A  Stamboul  Night 127 

IX.  A  Night  in  Pera 145 

X.  Constantinople,  1922 161 

XI.  Robert  College 183 

XII.  Education  and  Art 204 

XIII.  A  Glimpse  of  Islam 224 

XIV.  A  Voice  from  Anatolia 245 


50i 


o 


SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 


Speaking  of  The  Turks 

i 

HOMECOMING 

XXTE  were  arriving  at  Constantinople,  my  native 
city,  from  which  I  had  been  absent  nearly 
ten  years.  I  had  been  in  America  all  this  time. 
At  first  my  business  interests  and  later  the  gen- 
eral war  had  prevented  my  coming  back  to  my 
own  country  even  on  a  visit.  I  was  of  military 
age  and  Turkey  was  under  blockade.  When  I 
had  left  Constantinople  a  few  years  after  the 
Turkish  revolution,  the  whole  country  was  exhil- 
arated, filled  with  joy,  with  ambition  and  with 
hope.  Freedom  and  emancipation  from  an  auto- 
cratic domination  had  been  obtained.  Nothing 
was  to  prevent  the  normal  advance  of  Turkey  and 
the  Turks  along  the  road  to  progress.  We  were 
at  last  to  obtain  full  recognition  as  a  civilized 
nation.  We  were  at  last  to  receive  equal  treat- 
ment from  the  other  European  nations. 

But,  alas,  during  the  following  years  the  gods 
decided  otherwise.  Long,  interminable  wars  either 
waged  or  fomented  by  neighbouring  enemies 
had  hampered  the  progress  of  Turkey.     First  in 


I  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

Tripolitania,  then  in  Arabia  and  Albania,  then 
again  in  the  Balkans  and  finally  during  the  gen- 
eral war  the  Turkish  nation  had  been  nearly  bled 
to  death.  And  now  I  was  returning  to  my  country, 
and  my  native  city  was  groaning  under  a  domi- 
nation a  thousand  times  worse  even  than  autoc- 
racy: the  domination  of  victorious  foreign  coun- 
tries ! 

Yet  I  was  elated;  homecoming  is  always  excit- 
ing and  the  entrance  to  Constantinople  by  boat  is 
always  intoxicating.  Besides,  I  was  newly  mar- 
ried. My  young  bride — an  American  girl  from 
New  Orleans — was  with  me  and  I  was  anxious 
to  show  her  my  country  so  maligned  by  the  inter- 
national press. 

Our  boat  stopped  at  the  Point  of  the  Seraglio 
and  a  tug  brought  the  Inter-Allied  control  on 
board.  The  ship's  manifesto  and  the  passports 
of  all  passengers  had  to  be  examined  by  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  foreign  armies  of  occupation. 
I  was  the  only  Turk  on  board  and  my  wife  and  I 
travelled  of  course  on  a  Turkish  passport.  We 
had  been  obliged  to  obtain  a  special  permit  from 
the  Inter-Allied  authorities  before  we  could  even 
start  home.  I  took  my  turn  with  my  wife,  in  the 
line  of  passengers.  We  showed  our  passport  to 
the  officer  in  charge:  he  glanced  at  it  and  seeing 
it  was  Turkish,  asked  us  to  wait.  Our  passport 
was  in  perfect  order,  but  I  believe  that  just  for 
the  pleasure  of  humiliating  a  Turk  the  officer  de- 


HOMECOMING  5 

cided  to  examine  everybody  else's  passport  before 
mine,  and  kept  me  waiting  till  the  last.  An 
Italian  friend  of  mine  who  happened  to  travel 
with  us,  stood  near  us  to  vouch  for  me  in  case 
of  need.  I  was  coming  back  to  my  own  country 
and  I  might  need  the  assistance  of  a  foreigner! 
Poor  Turkey,  what  had  happened  to  you!  Poor 
Turks,  what  had  become  of  our  illusions  of  ten 
years  ago  which  .made  us  believe  that  being  at 
last  a  free  and  democratic  country  we  would  be 
recognized  as  a  civilized  nation,  and  would  receive 
equal  treatment  from  the  other  European  nations. 
Our  hopes  were  being  systematically  trampled  un- 
der the  spurred  heels  of  foreigners,  whose  one 
desire  seemed  to  be  to  eradicate  for  ever  even  our 
self-respect,  the  better  to  destroy  our  freedom,  the 
better  to  hamper  our  march  toward  progress,  the 
better  to  annihilate  our  national  independence! 

The  Inter- Allied  officer  had  humiliated  me:  he 
could  do  nothing  more — my  passport  was  in  order. 
The  boat  proceeded  into  the  harbour. 

The  magnificent  panorama  of  the  Bosphorus 
and  of  the  Golden  Horn  unfolded  once  more  be- 
fore my  eyes.  I  tried  to  forget  the  incident  of 
the  passport  with  all  its  disheartening  significance. 
The  view  was  too  sublime,  the  moment  too  thrill- 
ing to  attach  too  much  importance  to  an  occur- 
rence which  had  already  passed.  I  turned  my 
attention  to  pointing  out  to  my  wife  the  resplen- 
dent charm  of  our  surroundings.   We  were  enter- 


6  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

ing  within  the  water  gate  of  an  Eternal  City — the 
queen  of  two  continents — the  coveted  prize  of  all 
nations — which,  to  make  it  the  more  desirable, 
God  had  endowed  with  the  most  gorgeous  beauty. 

Under  our  eyes  Asia  and  Europe  were  uniting 
in  a  passionate  embrace.  Historic  monuments, 
palaces  and  mosques  emerged  under  the  clear 
blue  sky  of  the  Orient,  curving  their  shining 
domes,  raising  their  slender  minarets  as  if  point- 
ing to  God,  the  Merciful.  The  City  was  shrouded 
in  an  atmosphere  of  peace  and  calm,  Constanti- 
nople was  reposing  in  her  timeless  dignity  .  .  . 
but  the  harbour  was  filled  with  foreign  warships 
in  horrid  contrast  with  the  setting.  Motor  boats 
and  chasers  glided  busily  through  a  maze  of 
dreadnaughts  and  cruisers  deadly  gray  in  a  mist 
of  colour !  Battleships  were  lying  at  anchor,  their 
decks  cleared  for  action,  their  guns  turned  on 
the  City!  My  thrill  changed  to  a  shudder,  I 
winced. 

"Never  mind,  Zia,"  said  my  wife,  gently  placing 
her  hand  on  my  arm,  "every  one  has  his  day.  A 
country  cannot  die,  a  nation  cannot  forever  be 
enslaved.  Patience  and  untiring  work  will  lead 
Turkey  to  progress.  And  to-morrow  the  Turks 
will  have  their  day!" 

Her  understanding  braced  me.  Progress,  yes, 
progress!  But  had  we  progressed  in  the  midst 
of  ten  years  of  fighting,  could  we  progress  during 
this   interminable   state   of   war    which    had   not 


HOMECOMING  7 

ceased  even  since  the  armistice?  Patience,  yes, 
patience!  But  could  we  be  patient  and  work  un- 
tiringly under  the  present  conditions? 

I  took  my  wife  to  my  father's  residence.  He 
lived  then  in  Nishan  Tash,  in  a  house  on  a  hill, 
surrounded  by  a  garden,  overlooking  the  Bos- 
phorus.  The  house  was  large,  but  our  family  is 
large  too,  especially  when  it  comes  to  living  to- 
gether under  the  same  roof.  My  father  wanted 
us  to  settle  with  him.  Family  bonds  are  very 
strong  in  Turkey  and  the  Turks  have  retained 
to  a  large  degree  the  old  idea  of  clans.  Large 
homes  dating  from  the  old  days,  designed  to  shel- 
ter all  the  members  of  one  family  and  their  chil- 
dren, are  still  in  use  in  Constantinople.  It  is  true 
that  the  high  cost  of  living  and  the  restricted 
housing  facilities — caused  by  a  series  of  fires,  by 
the  influx  of  war  refugees  and  by  the  foreign 
invasion — have  contributed  to  perpetuate  to  this 
date  this  system  of  cohabitation.  It  is  true  that 
even  families  not  related  to  each  other  now  live 
together  for  economy's  sake.  But  the  custom 
originated  in  the  clan  spirit  and  its  continuation  is 
principally  due  to  the  strength  of  the  bonds  attach- 
ing the  members  of  one  family  to  each  other. 

Traditions  have  been  most  carefully  respected 
in  my  father's  famliy,  as  in  all  genuine  old  Turkish 
families.  We  have  adopted  or  adapted  as  the 
case  may  be,   any   and   all  of   the  western   cus- 


8  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

toms  which  are  compatible  with  the  Orient.  But 
we  still  jealously  preserve  certain  quaint  customs 
characteristic  of  the  old  Turkish  civilization.  The 
relations  between  the  members  of  our  family  re- 
main as  in  the  past:  most  intimate  and  cordial, 
although  outwardly  somewhat  ceremonious.  And 
the  family  has  stuck  together  as  much  as  the  cos- 
mopolitanism of  its  members  and  their  frequent 
travels  permitted.  This  blending  of  Eastern  and 
Western  customs,  of  Oriental  and  Occidental  edu- 
cation and  mode  of  living  is  a  very  natural  occur- 
rence in  Turkish  families  such  as  ours.  Identified 
with  official  positions  which  have  placed  them  for 
generations  in  continuous  touch  with  surrounding 
European  countries  and  with  the  Western  world, 
they  had  the  duty  at  the  same  time  of  perpetuating 
Turkish  traditions  and  the  desire  of  assimilating 
any  part  of  Western  customs  and  education  they 
deemed  compatible  with  their  own.  Our  family's 
governmental  service  dated  back  to  the  fifteenth 
century  when  it  had  been  appointed  "mufty"  of 
Western  Albania.  By  hereditary  right  it  had 
ever  since  then  to  personify,  represent  and  propa- 
gate Turkish  customs  and  education  in  that  out- 
lying province  of  the  Empire  where  it  exerted  a 
sort  of  political-religious  governorship.  But  the 
constant  relation  with  the  Italians,  Austrians,  Dal- 
matians and  Croatians  of  the  neighbouring  states 
gave  it  an  opportunity  to  learn,  appreciate  and 
assimilate  certain  Western  ideals.    In  recent  years 


HOMECOMING  9 

this  double  influence  of  the  East  and  the  West 
became  if  anything  more  pronounced.  My  grand- 
father having  died  when  my  uncle  and  my  father 
were  very  young,  they  were  brought  up  by  my 
grandmother,  and  the  dear  old  lady  succeeded  so 
thoroughly  in  her  task  that  she  had  the  satisfac- 
tion of  seeing,  before  she  died,  her  two  sons  rep- 
resenting at  the  same  time  their  country  as  Am- 
bassador to  France  and  Ambassador  to  Italy.  The 
delicate  Oriental  touch  imparted  by  this  lady  of 
another  age  is  still  to-day  very  much  alive  in  mem- 
bers of  the  family.  Although  a  man  of  a  certain 
age  and  having  filled  the  highest  dignities  in  the 
Government,  my  father  still  to-day  gets  up  re- 
spectfully when  my  uncle — his  elder  brother — 
enters  the  room.  Although  we  discuss  freely 
any  subject  among  ourselves,  without  distinc- 
tion of  age,  although  the  greatest  cordiality  and 
intimacy  exists  between  all  of  us,  none  of  the 
younger  members  of  the  family  would,  for  in- 
stance, think  of  smoking  before  one  of  his  seniors 
unless  he  had  been  especially  invited  to  do  so. 
Although  each  of  us  travels  extensively  and  at 
times  lives  far  away  for  years,  the  ties  uniting  us 
to  each  other  are  as  strong  and  as  "clannish"  as 
they  were  generations  ago. 

So  my  father  wanted  us  to  live  with  him.  But 
it  happened  that  most  of  the  family  were  then 
gathered  in  Constantinople.  Besides  our  immedi- 
ate family  numbering  four,  my  uncle,  his  wife, 


io  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

their  daughter  and  a  cousin  were  in  town  and 
lived  with  my  father.  And  two  old  servants  who 
had  been  so  long  with  us  that  they  were  now  part 
of  the  family  also  shared  the  same  roof.  Old  ser- 
vants are  an  immovable  institution  in  Turkey. 
After  years  of  service  they  acquire  a  standing  al- 
most equal  to  that  of  a  member  of  the  family. 
They  have  their  own  establishment,  they  do  not  do 
any  work  except  watching  over  the  hired  men,  and 
they  would  feel  insulted  if  they  were  paid  any 
salary.  They  ask  for  money  when  they  need 
it.  They  are  really  part  of  the  family.  One  of 
the  old  servants  who  was  then  with  my  father  had 
been  the  nurse  of  my  mother,  and  had  married 
many  years  ago — at  which  time  she  had  been 
given  a  little  house  comfortably  furnished.  At 
the  death  of  her  husband  she  felt  so  lonely — 
they  had  no  children — that  she  sold  her  house  and 
came  back  to  us.  She  has  lived  with  us  ever 
since  and  considers  us  all  as  her  adopted  children ! 

So  while  the  house  in  Nishan  Tash  was  quite 
large  it  was  nevertheless  full ;  and  much  to  the 
regret  of  every  one  of  us  we  decided  that  we 
would  visit  there  only  until  we  could  find  a  place 
of  our  own. 

This  was  a  difficult  task.  All  the  principal 
houses,  all  the  best  apartments  had  been  requisi- 
tioned by  foreign  officers  belonging  to  the  Inter- 
Allied  armies  of  occupation,  by  their  retinues  and 
by  their  friends.     We  were  shown  many  small, 


HOMECOMING  n 

dirty  cubby-holes  in  Pera,  which  Greek  and  Ar- 
menian owners  were  eager  to  rent  us  at  prices 
even  higher  than  those  prevailing  in  New  York. 
In  Stamboul  there  was  no  place  to  be  had,  more 
than  two-thirds  of  the  city  having  been  destroyed 
by  fire.  We  were  just  about  deciding  to  settle 
in  a  hotel,  when  at  last  we  had  the  good  luck 
to  fall  upon  a  Greek  couple  who  had  suddenly  de- 
cided to  get  a  divorce.  No  foreign  officers  had 
yet  heard  of  it.  The  house  was  situated  in  a 
populous  Greek  section  but  was  otherwise  all  right 
and  it  had  a  bathroom  which  is  more  than  can 
be  said  of  the  houses  and  apartments  in  Pera. 
The  Greeks  and  Armenians  evidently  do  not  con- 
sider bathrooms  as  a  necessity.  In  fact  I  believe 
that  the  bathroom  in  this  house — although  in  the 
cellar — has  greatly  contributed  to  make  of  the 
place  an  American  headquarters  ever  since  we 
gave  it  up. 

Anyhow  we  took  the  place  and  we  settled  in 
it  as  best  we  could.  Of  course  my  father,  my 
mother  and  my  brother  became  our  frequent  visi- 
tors. My  sister  came  to  live  with  us  so  that  my 
wife  would  not  be  too  lonely  when  I  was  out 
during  business  hours.  We  were  in  a  Greek  sec- 
tion and  not  one  of  the  best.  A  lady  alone  may 
be  quite  safe  in  Stamboul  or  even  in  a  lonely  house 
in  the  suburbs.  But  in  Pera,  in  the  midst  of 
the  riff-raff,  it  is  not  quite  safe  to  leave  her  alone 
even  during  the  day.    My  sister  is  about  the  same 


12  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

age  as  my  wife  and  speaks  fluently  English, 
French,  Italian,  German  and  of  course  Turkish. 
This  knowledge  of  foreign  languages  is  not  extra- 
ordinary in  Turkey  where  everybody  speaks  at  least 
three  or  four.  But  it  made  her  very  useful  until 
my  wife  could  pick  up  Turkish.  It  interested  me 
beyond  words  to  see  how  easy,  after  all,  it  is  to 
establish  good  understanding  between  two  people 
of  a  certain  education,  no  matter  how  far  apart 
their  racial  origins  may  be,  no  matter  how  little 
each  one  knows  of  the  other's  customs,  breeding 
and  upbringing.  Language  is  enough  to  avoid 
serious  misunderstanding,  personal  contact  is 
enough  to  bridge  any  previous  misconception. 
Here  was  my  wife,  born  in  New  Orleans  and  bred 
in  New  York,  who  had  never  before  been  out  of 
America,  and  my  sister,  born  and  bred  in  Turkey. 
The  only  apparent  point  in  common  between  the 
two  was  that  one  had  married  the  brother  of  the 
other.  But  between  the  two  developed  a  friendship 
and  devotion  which  can  be  built  up  only  upon  good 
understanding,  irrespective  of  any  legal  bonds. 

We  were  leading  a  very  retired  life  at  the  time 
and  the  two  girls  were  thrown  entirely  upon  their 
own  resources.  The  prevailing  political  conditions 
would  have  made  it  disagreeable  and  at  times  even 
unsafe  to  go  out  extensively.  The  city  was  full 
of  British  and  French  colonial  troops — mostly 
Australians  and  Senegalese.  While  outwardly 
everything  seemed  calm  and  quiet,  a  sense  of  im- 


HOMECOMING  13 

pending  tragedy  hung  in  the  air.  Vague  rumors 
of  riots  and  risings,  reports  of  atrocities  committed 
by  colonial  troops  were  circulating  from  mouth  to 
mouth.  Turkish  newspapers  appeared  every  morn- 
ing heavily  censored :  nearly  one  blank  column  out 
of  every  four.  A  general  and  indefinable  uneasi- 
ness prevailed.  Under  the  circumstances  we  did 
as  other  Turkish  families ;  we  led  a  retired  life,  suffi- 
cient unto  ourselves,  and  sought  our  distractions 
in  small  every-day  happenings. 

The  local  colour  of  the  street  we  lived  in,  with 
its  vendors,  its  Greek  children  playing  on  the  side- 
walks, the  nearby  open-air  fish  market,  the  milk 
man  making  his  morning  calls  at  the  neighbouring 
houses  and  milking  his  goats  on  their  doorsteps 
afforded  us  the  greatest  part  of  our  distraction. 
We  took  advantage  of  this  general  lull  of  things 
to  get  our  bearings  and  to  become  thoroughly 
acclimatized  to  our  surroundings. 

Thus  we  were  as  happy  as  could  be  under  the 
circumstances  and  perfectly  contented  with  our 
quarters,  until  the  beautiful  summer  sun  started 
to  shine.  Then  the  local  colour  became  somewhat 
more  than  local:  it  became  stagnant.  The  noise 
of  the  Greek  children  in  the  street  began  to  re- 
semble too  much  that  of  the  tenement  district  in 
New  York.  The  vendors  and  the  milk  men  became 
commonplace.  The  sun  became  too  warm  for  the 
fish  market.  The  narrow  streets  surrounding  our 
house — badly   ventilated    streets,    without   proper 


14  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

drainage,  like  most  of  the  streets  of  Pera — de- 
veloped an  odor  which  reminded  my  wife  of  the 
French  quarters  of  New  Orleans,  increased  to 
the  Nth.  degree!  To  top  it  all  a  case  of  bubonic 
plague  broke  out  in  a  neighbouring  house.  Greek 
quarters,  with  the  Armenian  and  Jewish  quarters, 
are  the  centers  of  contagious  diseases  in  Con- 
stantinople. 

We  had  already  decided  that  we  would  elect  for 
our  permanent  domicile  Stamboul,  as  far  removed 
from  the  Greek,  Armenian,  Levantine  and  foreign 
elements  as  possible.  Stamboul  is  exclusively 
Turkish  and  we  preferred  to  live  in  a  Turkish 
milieu.  We  had  succeeded  in  finding  a  house 
which  was  to  be  vacated  in  the  fall  It  was  right 
opposite  the  Sublime  Porte,  on  a  broad  avenue, 
bordered  with  plane  trees,  typical  of  Stamboul.  It 
was  in  a  decent,  quiet  Turkish  surrounding.  It 
had  large,  airy  rooms  and  a  private  Turkish  bath, 
as  is  usual  with  all  the  old  houses  in  Stamboul. 
True,  it  needed  a  few  repairs,  but  we  arranged 
with  the  landlord  to  have  the  floors  recovered,  to 
install  electric  light  and  telephone  and  to  add  a 
shower  in  the  bathroom.  The  house  would  be 
ready  for  us  in  a  few  months.  However,  we  de- 
cided that  we  could  not  pass  the  summer  in  Pera. 
We  would  go  to  visit  my  Father  in  Prinkipo,  an 
island  at  commuting  distance  in  the  Sea  of  Mar- 
mora, where  my  family  passed  the  summer  and 
where  many  of  my  old  friends  lived.     And  later 


HOMECOMING  15 

we  would  visit  my  aunts,  my  mother's  sisters,  for 
a  couple  of  weeks,  at  Erenkeuy  and  possibly  a 
distant  cousin  of  mine  who  lives  on  the  Bosphorus. 
In  this  way  we  would  make  the  round  of  the 
summer  resorts  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Constanti- 
nople. These  long  visits  are  customary  in  Turkey 
and  the  different  members  of  the  family  expect 
you  to  make  a  round  such  as  the  one  we  consid- 
ered, especially  when  you  return  after  a  long  ab- 
sence. Furthermore  they  were  all  anxious  to 
know  my  wife  better  and  we  desired  to  tie  up 
solidly  the  family  bonds  uniting  us  to  our  different 
relations  before  we  started  our  new  Turkish  life. 
By  this  time  my  wife  understood  a  little  Turkish 
and  wanted  to  identify  herself  as  much  as  possible 
with  her  new  relations. 


II 

SUMMER  MONTHS 

pRINKIPO  reminds  me  of  Bar  Harbor.  It  is 
the  largest  of  a  group  of  four  islands.  It 
is  covered  with  pine  trees  and  has  large  and  small 
country  estates  and  villas  scattered  all  over  its 
balmy  hills.  It  has  several  hotels  and  two  beauti- 
ful clubs  and  many  prominent  Turkish  families 
have  their  summer  residences  there.  In  the  old 
days  it  was  the  Turkish  resort  "par  excellence"  as 
opposed  to  Therapia  on  the  Bosphorus  where  all 
the  embassies  and  foreign  missions  have  their 
summer  headquarters.  But  now  the  Turkish  fami- 
lies who  can  still  afford  to  live  there  lead  a  retired 
life,  depressed  as  they  are  by  the  general  political 
situation  of  the  country  and  by  their  own  much  de- 
pleted finances.  Therefore  the  Levantines,  the  Ar- 
menians, and  especially  the  Greeks  have  invaded 
Prinkipo  and  try  to  crowd  out  the  Turks  from 
this  island  as  they  have  crowded  them  out  from 
Pera.  They  are  in  a  better  material  and  moral  sit- 
uation than  the  Turks  for  indulging  in  amuse- 
ments. And  they  have  made  of  Prinkipo — which 
used  to  be  in  the  old  days  a  refined  and  dis- 
tinguished resort,  like  Bar  Harbor — a  common 
playground  for  holiday  makers. 

16 


SUMMER  MONTHS  17 

Casinos,  gambling  houses  and  even  less  reputa- 
ble institutions  have  lately  flourished  on  the  balmy 
shores  of  the  island.  On  Saturdays  and  Sundays 
a  noisy  crowd  invades  the  place,  while  on  every 
pay-day  it  becomes  the  picnic  ground  of  intoxi- 
cated soldiers  belonging  to  the  international  navies 
guarding  Constantinople!  The  day  we  arrived  a 
few  intoxicated  British  sailors  were  making  them- 
selves generally  conspicuous  and  disagreeable  right 
on  the  landing  pier,  in  front  of  the  casinos.  They 
rushed  the  Italian  officer  commanding  the  police 
of  the  island,  who  had  tried  to  make  them  behave 
in  a  manner  more  in  harmony  with  their  supposed 
mission  of  maintaining  order  and  peace  in  a  for- 
eign country.  Finally  the  Italian  officer  had  to 
draw  his  revolver  and  fire  a  shot  in  the  air.  This 
happened  in  broad  daylight,  in  a  place  crowded 
by  the  mixed  Levantine  elements  now  making  up 
the  showy  summer  colony  of  Prinkipo.  Compo- 
sure and  calm  are  not  one  of  the  qualities  of  such 
crowds.  A  panic  started,  the  Levantines  running 
in  every  direction  and  the  general  stampede  was 
only  quieted  when  Turkish  policemen  were  called 
to  the  assistance  of  the  Italian  carabinieri.  The 
Turkish  police  knows  how  to  handle  a  Levantine 
crowd  better  than  the  foreign  police,  but  now  it 
can  only  interfere  if  it  is  especially  asked  to  do 
so  by  the  foreign  police. 

With  such  conditions  prevailing,  aggravated  by 
their  own  financial  difficulties,  it  is  not  surprising 


18  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

that  the  Turkish  elements  have  neither  the  heart 
nor  the  desire  to  assume  again  their  position  as 
leaders  of  the  summer  colony  in  Prinkipo.  They 
prefer  to  keep  quietly  to  themselves  and  they  make 
it  a  point  to  avoid  as  much  as  possible  any  contact 
with  foreigners  or  with  the  mixed  crowd  of  Lev- 
antines. The  beautiful  Yacht  Club,  which  was 
formerly  an  essentially  Turkish  institution  really 
devoted  to  yachting,  is  now  more  of  a  gambling 
den  than  a  club  and  only  a  few  unprincipled  Lev- 
antinized  Turks  still  frequent  it.  We  passed  be- 
fore it  on  our  way  home,  and  father  said  smilingly 
that  it  was  now  "taboo"  for  us.  I  can  well  imagine 
how  he  felt.  He  had  been  one  of  the  founders  of 
the  club. 

My  father  and  my  uncle  lived  together  in  a 
big  white  villa  midway  on  the  hill.  The  house  had 
been  originally  built  by  my  father  as  a  small  cot- 
tage during  the  first  years  of  his  marriage  and 
when  my  uncle  was  away  on  one  of  his  diplomatic 
missions.  Then  gradually  as  the  family  increased 
and  as  my  uncle  came  back,  additions  had  been 
made  to  the  cottage.  It  stood  now,  a  large  twenty- 
five  room  house  in  the  midst  of  pine  trees,  with 
shaded  verandas  running  around  each  floor,  com- 
manding a  gorgeous  view  over  the  three  neigh- 
bouring islands,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  smiling 
shores  of  Anatolia  on  the  other.  The  background 
to  this  panorama  is  furnished  by  the  city  of  Con- 
stantinople,  dimly  discernable  at  a  distance,   re- 


SUMMER  MONTHS  19 

fleeting  at  night  its  millions  of  blinking  lights  in 
the  blue  waters  of  the  Marmora.  We  settled  into 
one  of  the  wings  of  the  house  originally  built  for 
my  elder  brother  when  he  married.  He  was  now 
away  with  his  family. 

To  celebrate  our  arrival  my  father  took  us  at 
the  first  opportunity  to  the  Prinkipo  Club  of  which 
he  was  still  president.  This  club  has  remained 
more  exclusive  than  the  Yacht  Club  and  has  there- 
fore a  larger  and  better  Turkish  attendance.  It 
occupies  the  beautiful  estate  which  was  the  Ameri- 
can summer  Embassy  at  the  time  of  Mr.  Leish- 
man.  Weekly  concerts  are  given  in  its  gardens 
every  Friday  night — the  Turkish  Sunday.  My 
father  took  us  to  one  of  these  concerts  to  make 
our  "debut"  into  the  Turkish  society  of  Prinkipo. 
Groups  of  Turkish  families  were  wandering  to- 
gether in  the  gardens  or  sitting  at  tables,  enjoying 
the  beautiful  starry  night  and  listening  to  the 
music.  The  ladies  were  attired  in  summer  gar- 
ments— beautiful  Oriental  capes  of  embroidered 
white  silk,  draping  their  Parisian  gowns  in  flow- 
ing loose  folds — their  hair  covered  by  a  net  or  veil, 
but  their  faces  uncovered.  The  men  wore  tuxedos 
or  business  suits  and  could  be  distinguished  from 
the  foreigners  only  by  their  red  fezes,  a  most  un- 
becoming and  unpractical  headgear  which  is,  alas ! 
obligatory  for  all  Turkish  men  in  Constantinople. 

This  public  association  of  Turkish  ladies  and 
men  was  an  innovation  to  me.     It  had  gradually 


2o  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

come  to  pass  during  my  ten  years  absence.  Before 
my  departure  Turkish  ladies  could  only  be  seen  by 
friends  of  the  family,  and  then  exclusively  in  the 
strict  privacy  of  their  homes.  They  went  out  by 
themselves.  They  never  mingled  with  men  in 
public  places.  They  did  not  even  talk  to  them 
if  they  met  casually  on  the  streets.  They  would 
only  bow  slightly  or  make  a  discrete  "temenah" 
— the  graceful  Turkish  salutation  which  consists 
in  lifting  the  hand  towards  the  lips  and  to  the 
forehead.  Now,  ten  years  later,  Turkish  men  and 
women  were  talking  and  sitting  together  in  public 
places  and  in  clubs,  freely  associating  with  each 
other.  This  was  surely  a  concrete  sign  of,  at 
least,  social  progress. 

I  renewed  many  old  friendships  that  night  at 
the  club,  and  my  wife  began  there  many  acquain- 
tances which  developed  later  most  cordially.  My 
wife  was  surprised  to  meet  many  foreign  girls 
who  had,  like  herself,  married  Turks. 

When  we  announced  our  engagement  several 
of  her  friends  in  America  had  endeavoured  to 
dissuade  her  from  marrying  a  Turk.  Surely  a 
Turk  could  not  make  a  good  husband,  East  and 
West  could  never  mix.  And  anyhow  why  should 
she  be  the  first  foreigner  to  marry  a  Turk?  She 
had  of  course  set  aside  all  these  arguments  and 
had  believed  me  when  I  told  her  that  many  Turks 
had  married  foreigners  and  lived  happily  ever 
after.     I  don't  think,  however,  that  she  ever  con- 


SUMMER  MONTHS  21 

ceived  that  foreign  marriages  had  been  so  usual. 
That  evening  at  the  club  and  during  our  subse- 
quent stay  in  Constantinople,  she  found  herself  in 
a  most  international  milieu,  although  associating 
exclusively  with  Turkish  families.  She  met  in 
Prinkipo  a  charming  Austrian  girl,  who  had  mar- 
ried an  admiral  of  the  Turkish  navy.  The  mother 
of  one  of  my  childhood  friends  is  a  Russian  lady, 
while  the  wife  of  another  is  a  most  attractive 
Bavarian  girl.  Many  are  the  Turks  who  studied 
in  France  and  married  French  girls.  But  the  first 
prize  for  international  marriages  goes  unquestion- 
ably to  the  family  of  Reshid  Pasha  where  four 
out  of  seven  members  married  foreign  girls — 
Italian,  English  and  American.  So,  after  all,  my 
wife  found  out  that  not  only  she  was  not  the  first 
foreign  girl,  but  she  was  not  even  the  first  Ameri- 
can girl  who  had  married  a  Turk.  And  she  hast- 
ened to  write  it  to  her  friends  in  America  and  to 
tell  them  that  from  what  she  could  see  and  by 
her  own  experience  East  and  West  could  and  did 
mix.  The  Moslem  religion  and  the  Turkish  cus- 
toms allow  complete  latitude  as  far  as  marrying 
foreign  girls  is  concerned  and  leave  them  of  course 
absolutely  free  to  practise  their  own  religion.  As 
for  the  Turks  making  good  husbands,  I  believe 
of  course  that  this  is  entirely  dependent  on  the 
individual  and  not  on  the  race.  There  are  good 
and  bad  husbands  among  the  Turks,  just  as  there 
are  good  and  bad  husbands  among  other  nations. 


22  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

Our  stay  in  Prinkipo  turned  out  to  be  one  of 
the  most  pleasant  summer  vacations  I  ever  had. 
I  would  go  to  town  to  attend  business  regularly, 
but  would  take  long  week-ends  off;  that  is,  I  would 
do  as  most  business  men  do  in  summer  and  would 
stay  home  Fridays,  Saturdays  and  Sundays.  We 
would  then  go  bathing  in  the  mornings,  and  play 
tennis  or  go  out  sailing  in  the  afternoons.  The 
Sea  of  Marmora  is  ideal  for  yachting,  and  numer- 
ous are  the  sailing  yachts  which  use  Prinkipo  as 
their  port.  Of  course  the  fact  that  we  usually 
used  Turkish  yachts  would  somewhat  hamper  our 
movements,  as  boats  flying  the  Turkish  flags  were 
not  allowed  to  go  anywhere  near  the  Anatolian 
shores,  the  Inter- Allied  authorities  enforcing  at 
that  time  a  strict  blockade  of  the  Nationalists. 

Often  there  would  be  tea-parties  or  informal 
after-dinner  gatherings  in  the  Turkish  homes. 
And  while  these  were  small,  unpretentious  af- 
fairs— the  Turks  cannot  afford  to  entertain  elab- 
orately on  account  of  their  precarious  means — 
they  were  a  most  pleasant  manner  of  passing  away 
the  time.  There  was  always  someone  interesting 
at  these  gatherings.  A  man  or  a  woman  of 
prominence  who  would  give  to  us  a  new  point 
of  view  or  some  insight  into  the  general  sit- 
uation. Once  an  Egyptian  princess  told  us  of  the 
difference  in  the  progress  accomplished  by  the 
Turks  and  by  their  cousins  of  Egypt  in  the  last 
years.    How,  despite  the  fact  that  the  Turks  had 


SUMMER  MONTHS  23 

been  hampered  by  political  circumstances  while 
the  Egyptians  had  had  the  supposed  benefit  of 
British  help,  Turkish  women  now  enjoyed  a  much 
larger  political  and  social  freedom  than  Egyptian 
women,  and  public  education  had  spread  more  gen- 
erally in  Turkey  than  in  Egypt.  Another  time 
the  director  of  the  Turkish  Naval  Academy  in 
Halki  told  us  how  he  had  taken  advantage  of 
the  temporarily  complete  independence  of  Turkey 
during  the  war  to  make  of  his  school  one  of  the 
most  progressive  and  up-to-date  naval  academies 
in  the  world — how  since  the  armistice  he  was  meet- 
ing seemingly  insurmountable  difficulties  in  pro- 
tecting his  school  from  the  process  of  disintegra- 
tion systematically  applied  by  the  Allies  to  every- 
thing Turkish  in  Constantinople.  Another  time 
Zia  Pasha,  former  Turkish  Ambassador  in  Wash- 
ington, told  us  how  for  years  Sultan  Abdul  Hamid 
succeeded  in  keeping  his  Empire  intact  by  playing 
the  greedy  ambitions  of  one  western  nation  against 
that  of  the  other.  Once  again  Reshid  Pasha,  the 
Turkish  diplomat  who  negotiated  all  the  peace 
treaties  made  by  Turkey  in  recent  years — up  to 
but  excluding  the  Treaty  of  Sevres — told  us  of 
his  experiences  at  the  London  Peace  Conference 
following  the  Balkan  War.  His  position  was  most 
delicate  as  he  was  representing  a  nation  which 
had  been  defeated  on  the  battlefield  and  had  to 
contend  also  with  the  inherent  enmity  that  the 
ever-grasping  imperialistic  western  powers  have 


34  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

always  felt  in  regard  to  Turkey.  His  was  a 
pitched  diplomatic  battle  against  the  Greek  Veniz- 
elos.  Reshid  Pasha  was  too  modest  to  add  what 
everybody  knows:  that  he  came  out  the  victor, 
having  turned  the  tables  on  Venizelos  to  such  a 
degree  that  the  Greek  statesman  came  away  from 
London  with  his  reputation  as  a  diplomat  greatly 
imperilled. 

Unfortunately,  subsequent  events  had  put  back 
Venizelos  to  the  fore,  and  after  numerous  shifts  of 
policy  the  Greeks  had  succeeded  before  our  ar- 
rival in  having  the  great  powers  present  to  Turkey 
the  terms  of  the  Treaty  of  Sevres.  Naturally, 
past,  present  and  future  politics  were  the  subject 
of  all  conversations.  Feeling  was  running  high  in 
Turkish  circles.  Every  one  was  incensed  both 
against  the  Allied  powers  and  against  the  Turkish 
Government  of  the  moment.  The  Grand  Vezir, 
or  Prime  Minister,  was  being  severely  criticised 
and  accused  of  trampling  on  the  dignity  of  the 
nation  by  accepting  the  Treaty  of  Sevres.  The 
Nationalist  movement  had  already  started  and 
while  the  Turks  remained  stoically  calm  in  Con- 
stantinople for  fear  of  reprisals  by  the  Inter-Allied 
fleets  upon  the  innocent  population  of  the  city,  the 
tide  of  despair  was  rising  in  Anatolia.  The  Na- 
tionalist movement  was  as  yet  not  thoroughly  or- 
ganized. But  the  set  purpose  of  preventing  the 
application  of  the  terms  of  the  treaty  was  already 
noticeable  in  the  activities  of  the  Turkish  National- 


SUMMER  MONTHS  25 

ist  bands  who  had  sworn  to  die  rather  than  to  lose 
their  independence.  They  have,  since  then,  stuck 
most  efficiently  to  their  patriotic  aim. 

During  those  critical  days  following  the  pub- 
lication of  the  terms  of  the  Treaty  of  Sevres,  and 
during  the  first  weeks  of  the  conception  of  the 
Turkish  Nationalist  movement,  many  a  time  have 
we  watched  from  Prinkipo  the  smoke  of  firearms 
indicating  encounters  between  Turkish  National- 
ist bands  and  British  Colonial  troops,  on  the  hills 
dominating  the  nearby  shores  of  Anatolia.  Once 
we  witnessed  a  big  forest  fire  engineered  for  the 
purpose  of  destroying  the  hiding-places  where  the 
Nationalist  volunteers  would  take  refuge  after 
their  successful  raids  against  the  armies  of  occu- 
pation. These  Anatolian  hills  lie  to  this  day,  their 
once  smilingly  green  slopes  bare — a  silent  exam- 
ple of  the  work  of  destruction  undertaken  in  the 
name  of  civilization  by  the  western  powers  who 
champion  the  rights  of  certain  small  nations  by 
destroying  the  properties  of  others.  These  Ana- 
tolian hills  are  at  this  day,  desolate  and  sad — but 
a  proud  monument  commemorating  the  unsuccess- 
ful attempt  of  the  so-called  civilized  governments 
to  pass  a  death  sentence  upon  a  small  nation  whose 
will  to  live  independently  could  not  be  conquered 
either  by  fire  or  by  blood.  The  prologue  of  the 
greatest  crime  perpetrated  in  history  since  the  par- 
tition of  Poland  was  thus  gradually  unfolding  it- 
self almost  under  our  very  eyes,  while  the  Turkish 


26  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

circles  of  Prinkipo  and  Constantinople — prisoners 
in  their  own  capital — had  to  watch,  aloof.  It  was 
an  edifying  show  of  real  Oriental  restraint  to  see 
all  these  people  stand  stoically  and  without  a  mur- 
mur so  that  their  brethren  in  Anatolia  might  have 
time  to  organize.  In  the  face  of  the  worst  adver- 
sities and  while  their  hearts  were  bleeding,  they 
furnished  to  Anatolia  the  breathing-spell  it  re- 
quired. To  the  cry  of  "chase  the  Turk  out  of 
Europe"  shouted  in  their  very  face,  the  Turks  of 
Constantinople  were  opposing  a  passive  and  dig- 
nified resistance.  A  friend  of  mine  summarized 
one  day  most  clearly  the  motive  underlying  their 
passive  resistance.  We  were  on  the  Prinkipo  boat 
going  to  Constantinople — the  boat  which  in  the 
old  days  was  full  of  Turkish  dignitaries  going 
to  their  offices.  Now  only  a  few  Turkish  business 
men  were  distinguishable  in  the  crowd.  A  few 
foreign  officers  were  lounging  comfortably  on 
benches  "reserved  for  Inter-Allied  officers" — large 
enough  to  accommodate  twenty  people — while 
crowds  of  men  and  women  were  standing  all 
around  for  lack  of  place  to  sit.  The  boat  was 
filled  with  noisy  Levantines,  Armenians  and 
Greeks,  eating  dates  and  pistachio  nuts,  throwing 
the  seeds  and  the  shells  on  the  deck,  making  of  the 
floor  a  place  not  fit  for  animals,  and  rendering 
themselves  generally  obnoxious.  My  friend  pointed 
to  them  and  said:  "These  are  the  people  who 
want  to  take  Constantinople  away  from  us  in  the 


SUMMER  MONTHS  2? 

name  of  civilization!  But  we  have  to  overlook 
their  impudence,  we  have  to  close  our  eyes  on 
their  misbehaviour,  we  have  to  stand  and  bear 
it  all.  What  else  can  we  do?  If  we  weaken 
and  join  "en  masse"  the  Nationalists  in  Anatolia, 
we  would  leave  in  Constantinople  a  majority  of 
these  people  and  the  Western  Powers  would  take 
advantage  of  this  majority  to  detach  the  city  com- 
pletely from  the  rest  of  Turkey.  If  we  can't 
control  our  patience,  and  rise  against  the  foreign- 
ers and  the  usurpers  in  our  own  city,  the  Western 
Powers  will  interfere  and  their  battleships  will 
destroy  our  homes.  But  if  we  stand  pat  and  ig- 
nore them  they  can  not  do  us  any  harm.  Our  duty 
is  to  preserve  our  city  for  Turkey.  And  we  can 
only  do  it  by  remaining  here  and  by  opposing  to 
those  who  plot  against  us  a  passive  and  silent 
resistance." 

In  this  atmosphere  of  suspense  the  last  days  of 
our  stay  in  Prinkipo  drew  near.  Our  house  in 
Stamboul  would  be  ready  now  in  about  a  month. 
I  had  promised  my  wife  to  take  her  to  Erenkeuy 
and  to  the  Bosphorus.  My  father  wanted  us  to 
discharge  our  obligations  towards  the  rest  of  the 
family.  And  besides  he  was  soon  going  back  to 
town  himself.  The  season  of  Prinkipo  was  at  its 
end.  Constantinople  and  its  surrounding  are  at 
their  best  in  the  early  fall,  but  Prinkipo  gets  too 
cold.  The  bathing  season  was  finished,  the  yacht- 
ing season  was  at  its  end.    The  hotels  were  clos- 


28  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

ing.     One  by  one  the  villas  were  shutting  their 
hospitable  doors.     The  summer  colony  was  dis- 
banding.    Prinkipo  was  preparing  for  its  annual 
winter  sleep. 
We  packed  our  bags  and  went  to  visit  my  aunts. 


Ill 

ERENKEUY 

ClNCE  our  arrival  at  Constantinople  my  wife 
had  been  complaining  that  I  had  not  shown 
her  a  "harem."  So  she  was  very  anxious  to  visit 
my  aunts,  in  Erenkeuy,  when  I  told  her  that  it 
was  there  that  she  could  see  one,  at  least  in  the 
Turkish  sense  of  the  word.  Harem  in  Turkish 
means  nothing  less,  but  nothing  more,  than  the 
special  house  or  the  special  section  of  a  house  re- 
served to  the  ladies  of  the  family.  In  the  old  days 
when  the  ladies  did  not  associate  with  men  they 
used  to  live  in  the  main  house  or  in  a  part  of 
the  house,  generally  the  best,  where  they  had  their 
own  sitting-rooms,  dining-rooms,  boudoirs,  etc., 
distinct  from  the  sitting-room,  dining-room  or  den 
of  the  men  of  the  family.  When  I  speak  of  "ladies" 
and  "men"  in  the  plural  it  is  well  to  remember  it 
was  and  still  is  the  custom  in  Turkey  for  all  the 
members  of  the  same  family  to  live  together  under 
the  same  roof.  The  Turkish  family  is  a  sort  of  a 
clan.  So  while  there  are  always  many  ladies  in 
a  family,  foreigners  must  not  imagine  that  there 
are  many  "wives."  This  is  a  true  narrative  of 
Turkey  and  the  Turks  as  they  really  are,   so  I 

29 


3o  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

have  to  speak  the  truth  even  at  the  risk  of  shat- 
tering many  legends.  I  am  bound  therefore  not  to 
fall  in  line  with  the  traditions  established  by  other 
writers  who  never  fail  to  refer  to  a  servant  in  a 
Turkish  household  as  being  a  "slave/'  and  to  the 
ladies  of  a  Turkish  family  as  being  "wives."  The 
truth  is  that  slavery  was  not  generally  practised  in 
Turkey  even  before  the  Civil  War  in  America,  and 
the  "wives"  referred  to  by  most  of  the  foreign 
writers  either  exist  only  in  their  imagination  or 
else  are  the  sisters,  sisters-in-law,  daughters  or 
cousins  of  the  head  of  the  family  which  foreign 
writers  innocently  or  purposely  represent  as  his 
wives.  Of  course  there  might  be  several  wives  in 
the  same  household — but  not  the  wives  of  the  same 
man.  For  instance,  when  we  were  visiting  my 
father  in  Prinkipo,  there  were  four  "wives"  living 
together :  my  father's,  my  uncle's,  my  cousin's  and 
my  own  wife.  Anyhow  I  warned  my  wife  that  she 
would  see  in  Erenkeuy  a  "harem"  in  the  Turkish 
sense  of  the  word  and  not  the  kind  of  private 
cabaret  which  exists  only  in  the  fertile  imagination 
of  scenario  writers,  and  in  the  ludicrous  pages  of 
sensational  newspapers  or  dime  novels. 

Erenkeuy  is  a  little  village  at  about  half  an  hour 
ride  from  Constantinople  and  on  the  Asiatic  side. 
The  shores  of  Anatolia  are  here  covered  with 
country  estates  uniting  small  villages  all  the  way 
from  Scutari  to  Maltepe — a  distance  of  about  fif- 
teen miles.     And  all  except  Cadikeuy  and  Moda 


ERENKEUY  31 

are  peopled  with  Turks.  The  Turks  living  here 
are  mostly  conservatives.  They  are  not  old  fash- 
ioned and  narrow  but  they  have  kept  to  the  Turk- 
ish ways  of  living  more  accurately  than  the  Turks 
living  in  other  sections  or  suburbs  of  Constanti- 
nople. It  really  cannot  be  explained  but  there  is 
here  an  indefinable  something  that  makes  you  feel 
that  you  are  in  Turkey  more  than  you  do  in  any 
other  suburb  of  Constantinople.  Perhaps  it  is  only 
due  to  the  fact  that  you  are  on  the  hospitable  soil 
of  Anatolia. 

Suburban  trains  running  on  the  famous  Bagdad 
railroad  take  you  to  Erenkeuy.  I  again  had  a  jolt 
on  these  trains.  In  the  old  days  the  company  be- 
longed to  the  Germans  and  was  run  by  the  Ger- 
mans. But  it  endeavoured  not  to  arouse  the  sus- 
ceptibility of  the  Turks  by  flaunting  in  their  faces 
that  it  was  a  foreign  company.  All  the  employees 
on  the  train  wore  the  fez,  the  national  Turkish 
headgear,  and  the  greatest  majority  of  them  were 
Turks.  Now  the  Allies  have  replaced  the  Ger- 
mans and  have  taken  over  the  railroad  as  part  of 
Germany's  war  indemnity  towards  them.  The  re- 
sult is  that  their  systematic  campaign  of  humiliat- 
ing the  Turks  has  been  practised  even  here.  The 
new  Allied  administration  employs  mostly  Greeks 
and  Armenians — and  all  the  employees  of  the  com- 
pany now  wear  caps.  Really  the  difference  between 
caps  or  fezzes  is  only  one  of  form,  but  it  has  a 
psychological   effect.     For   instance,   even   in   my 


32  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

case,  although  I  dislike  the  fez  as  a  most  impracti- 
cable and  unbecoming  headgear,  and  although  I 
have  worn  hats  the  greater  part  of  my  life  I  could 
not  help  resenting  the  change:  it  rubbed  me  the 
wrong  way.  It  made  me  most  vividly  feel  as  if  we 
were  not  the  masters  in  our  own  homes — at  least 
temporarily  in  Constantinople  and  its  environs. 

We  arrived  in  Erenkeuy  in  the  afternoon  on 
one  of  those  beautifully  clear  days  which  make  of 
the  fall  almost  the  most  pleasant  season  of  Con- 
stantinople. The  air  was  mildly  heated  by  an 
autumnal  sun  shining  in  a  marvellously  blue  sky. 
The  leaves  of  the  plane  trees  surrounding  the 
station  had  turned  golden  red  and  had  become 
scarce  on  the  branches.  Even  now  some  were  vol- 
planing to  the  earth  on  the  wings  of  a  gentle 
fall  breeze.  The  square  in  front  of  the  station, 
with  its  clean  little  shops — each  a  diminutive  ba- 
zaar of  its  own — opened  itself  smilingly  to  us  as 
we  emerged  from  the  train  with  our  baggage. 
In  the  background  we  could  see  the  little  mosque 
where  villagers  were  entering  for  their  afternoon 
prayer. 

We  decided  to  walk  to  my  aunt's  house,  which 
is  not  far  from  the  station.  Besides,  it  wTas  prayer- 
time  and  we  should  avoid  arriving  while  the  whole 
household  was  at  prayer.  We  heaped  our  luggage 
in  a  carriage — a  typically  Asiatic  conveyance  with 
bright  coloured  curtains  hanging  from  a  wooden 
canopy   and   with   seats   char-a-banc   fashion.      It 


ERENKEUY  33 

disappeared  in  a  cloud  of  dust  to  the  gallop  of  its 
sturdy  little  Anatolian  horse.  My  wife  was  de- 
lighted, this  was  at  last  Turkey  somewhat  as  she 
had  imagined  it  to  be.  But  what  would  happen 
to  our  bags  if  the  coachman  was  not  honest?  Had 
I  a  receipt?  Didn't  the  coachman  give  me  a 
check?  At  least  I  had  taken  the  number  of  the 
carriage,  hadn't  I?  I  reassured  my  wife:  the 
coachman  was  not  a  Greek — he  was  not  even  a 
taxicab  driver  of  one  of  the  "civilized"  western 
metropolises.  He  was  a  plain  Turk,  just  an  Ana- 
tolian peasant,  and  our  luggage  was  as  safe  in 
his  keeping  as  it  would  be  in  the  strong  box  of  a 
bank. 

We  leisurely  followed  the  carriage  through  a 
little  country  road  bordered  by  garden  walls  on 
both  sides.  High  stone  walls,  white  washed,  pro- 
tected the  privacy  of  the  gardens  from  the  glances 
of  passers-by.  A  big  gate  here,  a  half-opened 
door  there  would  give  us  a  glimpse  of  houses, 
small  or  large,  surrounded  with  trees — elm  trees, 
plane  trees,  fig  trees,  cedars  and  cypresses — whose 
dark  branches  enshrouded  the  houses  in  a  mystery 
of  falling  leaves.  The  only  house  of  which  we 
could  get  a  full  view  from  the  road  was  a  little 
old  house,  with  a  slanting  brick  roof,  an  en- 
closed balcony  hanging  high  in  the  air  and  sup- 
ported by  arched  pillars,  a  cobbled  courtyard 
where  a  few  hens  were  picking  their  feed  while 
a  big  brown  dog,  a  relic  of  the  old  street  dogs,  was 


34  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

peacefully  sleeping.  It  was  at  the  corner  of  a 
street,  its  gate  wide  opened,  and  there  was  only 
one  big  old  tree  in  the  garden.  The  others  must 
have  died  of  old  age,  and  the  owner  must  have 
been  too  poor  to  replace  them. 

The  road  we  followed  was  dusty  and  almost  de- 
serted, with  deep  furrows  left  by  chariots,  carts 
and  carriages  since  the  beginning  of  time.  In 
winter  the  rain  and  the  snow  turned  the  soft,  pink- 
ish Anatolian  soil  into  a  greasy  mud.  And  every 
winter,  ever  since  the  days  of  the  Janissaries, 
chariots,  carts  and  carriages  had  passed  on  these 
roads,  furrowing  always  deeper.  One  felt  as  if  the 
clock  of  time  had  stopped  here  years  ago.  An 
acute  sense  of  the  living  past  permeated  every- 
thing. 

On  our  way  my  wife  asked  me  to  tell  her  some- 
thing of  my  aunt's  family.  Our  surroundings  re- 
minded me  of  old  stories  and  I  told  her  the  story 
as  told  to  us  by  my  grandmother  when  we  were 
tiny  little  boys.  I  used  to  love  it  as  it  opened  be- 
fore my  mind  vast  visions  of  heroic  ages.  "Cen- 
turies ago,"  I  told  my  wife,  "there  lived  a  young 
man,  almost  a  boy,  in  the  faraway  mountains  of 
Anatolia,  bordering  the  snow-covered  peaks  of  the 
Caucasus.  He  was  tall  and  handsome  but  did  not 
marry  because  he  had  to  support  his  old  father 
and  mother  who  were  so  old  and  so  poor  that 
they  could  only  sit  on  their  divans  all  day  and 
pray  the  Almighty  to  call  them  back  to  him  so  that 


ERENKEUY  35 

their  boy  might  be  left  free  of  worries  and  respon- 
sibilities. But  they  were  good  parents  and  the 
boy  was  a  good  son.  Therefore,  the  Almighty 
heard  their  prayer  and  freed  their  son  of  all  wor- 
ries, but  not  in  the  way  the  old  people  had  prayed 
for.  It  so  happened  that  the  "Frank"  kings  of 
Hungary,  Servia  and  Bulgaria  declared  war  on 
our  powerful  Sultan  and  invaded  his  domains. 
To  repulse  the  invaders  our  Sultan  called  all  his 
brave  subjects  under  arms.  They  flocked  from 
all  over  to  the  standard  of  their  emperor.  The 
young  boy  from  the  Anatolian  mountains  near  the 
Caucasus  heard  his  sovereign's  call  and  answered 
it  immediately.  But  he  was  so  far  away  that  when 
he  came  to  Adrianople,  which  was  at  that  time 
the  capital  of  the  Sultan,  he  found  that  the  armies 
had  left  many  days  before  to  meet  the  detested 
foes.  He  galloped  post  haste  through  the  Balkans, 
days  and  nights  without  rest  until  he  finally 
reached  the  plains  of  Kossovo.  But,  alas,  what 
a  sight  met  his  gaze  when  he  arrived  there!  The 
armies  of  the  allied  "Frank"  kings  had  captured 
the  standard  of  the  Sultan,  and  the  Turkish 
armies  were  in  rout.  Tooroondj — that  was  the 
name  of  our  young  hero — decided  to  recapture 
the  standard  of  the  Sultan  and  in  the  depths  of 
the  night  when  the  "Frank"  armies  were  asleep, 
he  climbed  the  walls  of  their  citadel,  killed  the 
sentry  on  watch,  took  the  flag  and  returned  to  the 
Turkish  camp.     Next  morning  at  dawn  the  Turk- 


$6  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

ish  soldiers,  awakening  and  seeing  the  standard 
of  the  Sultan  waving  again  on  the  imperial  tent, 
were  filled  with  renewed  courage.  The  Sultan 
assembled  them  all  and  before  all  the  Turkish 
armies  he  called  Tooroondj  to  him.  He  gave  the 
imperial  flag  to  our  hero  and  ordered  him  to 
lead  a  final  charge  against  the  enemies.  Tooroondj 
was  so  brave  that  he  planted  victoriously  the  stand- 
ard of  his  emperor  on  the  citadel  of  the  enemies. 
Thus,  first  through  his  bravery  in  recovering  sin- 
gle-handed the  standard,  and  second  through  the 
valour  he  showed  in  leading  the  charge  Tooroondj 
won  for  the  empire  the  first  battle  of  Kossovo. 
In  recognition  of  his  services  the  Sultan  made 
him  Bey  of  his  natal  province.  After  the  war 
Tooroondj  returned  to  his  principality  and  to  his 
old  father  and  mother,  and  took  to  himself  a  wife. 
His  descendants  have  ruled  there  until  feudality 
became  gradually  extinct.  Then  the  main  branch 
came  to  Constantinople  where  it  has  ever  since 
served  the  empire  in  all  branches  of  the  govern- 
ment services.  Now  the  last  descendants  of  the 
main  branch  are  here,  in  Erenkeuy,  and  we  are  en- 
tering through  the  gate  of  their  house." 

A  wrought-iron  garden  gate  opened  on  a  road 
bordered  with  trees.  Right  near  the  gate  and  on 
each  side  of  the  road  were  two  little  houses  of 
seven  or  eight  rooms  each.  These  used  to  be  the 
"Selamlik,"  or  quarters  where  my  uncle  received 
his  men  friends  in  the  old  days,  entertained  them 


ERENKEUY  37 

or  talked  state  matters  with  them.  When  business 
required  it,  or  when  the  friends  desired,  they 
would  stay  a  few  days  as  his  guests.  The  little 
houses  were  specially  designed  for  this  purpose, 
each  of  them  having  even  its  own  kitchen.  The 
service  was  made  by  a  retinue  of  men  servants 
alone  and  in  the  old  days  only  men  were  to  be 
seen  in  and  around  these  two  little  houses,  as 
around  all  "Selamliks."  They  were  a  sort  of  pri- 
vate club  at  the  time  that  Turkish  ladies  were 
not  allowed  to  associate  with  the  social  or  business 
activities  of  their  men.  But  now  that  the  barkers 
curtailing  the  activities  of  women  have  been  torn 
down  the  two  little  houses  were  rented  to  two 
families.  Some  of  the  tenants  were  sitting  on  the 
verandas  and  looked  at  us  with  the  curiosity  that 
all  people  living  in  a  quiet  country  place  feel 
towards  strangers. 

We  followed  the  road  winding  its  way  through 
old  trees  and  shrubs  and  soon  reached  an  inner 
wall  covered  with  vines,  separating  the  gardens 
of  the  "Harem"  from  those  of  the  "Selamlik."  The 
road  skirted  this  inner  wall  and  took  us  to  the  back 
of  the  main  house,  or  "harem"  proper  which  in 
the  old  days  was  consecrated  to  the  living  quarters 
of  the  ladies  and  the  private  quarters  of  the  family. 
It  is  a  big  building  with  its  main  entrance  opening 
on  the  outer  court,  but  with  its  fagade  turned 
toward  the  gardens  of  the  harem,  so  that  there  is 
no   communication    with    the    old    Selamlik    other 


38  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

than  this  entrance.  The  door  was  ajar  and  opened 
as  soon  as  we  set  foot  on  its  steps. 

My  aunt,  with  her  two  sisters,  their  children 
and  the  servants  had  formed  a  semi-circle  inside 
the  entrance  hall  and  were  awaiting  us,  outwardly 
calm  but  with  their  eyes  shining  with  restrained 
excitement.  Turkish  etiquette  requires  composure 
no  matter  how  excited  one  is.  Every  one  has  to 
wait  his  turn  and  we  greeted  each  other  accord- 
ingly, starting  by  the  eldest  and  going  down  the 
line  according  to  age — kissing  the  hands  of  those 
older  than  us  and  having  our  hands  kissed  by  those 
younger  than  us.  This  hand-kissing  is  a  sign  of 
respect  which  remains  supreme  in  Turkey ;  no  mat- 
ter what  their  respective  social  position,  when  two 
Turks  greet  each  other  the  younger  one  always  at 
least  makes  a  motion  as  if  to  kiss  the  hand  of  his 
elder.  It  is  a  quaint,  graceful  acknowledgment  of 
the  respect  and  allegiance  due  to  old  age. 

With  all  the  formality  attached  to  it  the  recep- 
tion extended  by  my  aunts  at  our  arrival  was  vi- 
brating with  sincerity  and  emotion.  The  dear, 
dear  ladies  were  patting  us  and  embracing  us, 
their  eyes  full  of  tears,  with  little  sighs  of  delight 
and  whispered  prayers  of  thanksgiving  to  the  Al- 
mighty to  have  thus  permitted  our  reunion  under 
their  roof.  They  took  us  to  the  sitting-room  where 
we  all  sat  in  a  circle,  and  a  general  conversation, 
in  which  my  wife's  Turkish  had  to  be  helped  by 
my   cousin   or   by   myself,    started   around.      My 


ERENKEUY  39 

aunts  do  not  speak  English  but  this  handicap  of 
language  did  not  prevent  the  establishment  of 
ties  of  love  and  devotion  between  them  and  my 
wife.  These  bonds  in  fact  developed  in  the  course 
of  time  to  such  a  degree  that  to-day  they  are  as 
strong  as  the  ties  of  blood  uniting  my  aunts  to 
me.  They  took  to  my  wife  immediately  and 
wanted  to  know  how  she  liked  Constantinople. 
Wasn't  she  missing  her  country  and  her  sisters? 
But  now  she  had  a  new  set  of  sisters  and  brothers. 
Their  own  children  would  surround  her  with  love 
and  try  to  make  her  feel  less  the  absence  of  her 
sisters  in  America.  And  they  themselves  were 
my  wife's  aunts.  She  had  become  one  with  me 
by  her  marriage.  And  how  would  we  enjoy  stay- 
ing with  them  in  Erenkeuy?  The  life  here  was 
;very  quiet,  a  great  change  for  people  coming  from 
America. 

A  few  minutes  later  my  uncle  came  to  join  the 
family  circle.  We  all  got  up  respectfully  and 
stood  until  he  sat  in  his  favourite  easy-chair. 
He  greeted  us  with  warm  words  of  welcome,  in 
his  quiet,  unostentatious  way.  Every  one  was 
conscious  that  the  head  of  the  family  was  now 
with  us,  although  there  was  no  strain  whatsoever. 
Just  a  note  of  deference,  that  was  all.  Coffee  was 
served.  Then  a  maid  brought  us  jam  on  a  silver 
platter  and  each  one  took  a  spoonful,  drinking 
some  water  immediately  after.  We  exchanged 
news  about  the  different  members  of  the  family 


40  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

and  about  our  friends,  talked  of  the  past  and  of 
our  future  plans.  At  tea  time  we  adjourned  to 
the  dining-room  and  had  our  tea  Turkish  fashion: 
weak,  with  lemon  and  plenty  of  sugar.  No  toast 
is  served  but  instead  bread  and  that  wonderful 
white  cheese  which  melts  in  the  mouth.  They 
explained  to  us  that  during  the  war  they  drank 
the  boiled  extract  of  roasted  oats  instead  of  tea 
or  coffee. 

After  the  ice  was  completely  broken  I  had  to 
call  on  my  uncle  and  my  aunts  to  convince  my 
wife  that  we  were  really  in  a  "harem."  I  must 
say  that  they  were  very  much  amused.  Of  course 
this  was  a  harem  and  no  man  except  the  members 
of  the  family  had  ever  passed  its  threshold  in  the 
days  gone  by.  But  that  did  not  mean  that  my 
uncle  had  ever  had  another  wife  besides  my  aunt. 
They  always  had  lived  together  ever  since  the 
divorce  of  my  second  aunt,  and  my  youngest  aunt 
had  also  lived  here  always  with  her  husband.  They 
suggested  showing  my  wife  the  gardens  of  the 
harem  and  we  all  wandered  out  together. 

What  a  great  difference  ten  or  twelve  years  had 
made  in  these  gardens!  The  last  time  I  had  seen 
them — before  my  departure  for  America — their 
alleys  were  carpeted  with  clean  small  pebbles,  their 
trees  were  trimmed,  their  well-kept  flower  beds 
and  orchards  were  a  pleasure  to  the  eyes,  while 
the  hot-house  at  the  corner  was  filled  with  rare 
tropical  plants  and  fruit-trees.     The  whisper  of 


ERENKEUY  41 

running  water  flew  continuously  from  many  foun- 
tains and  in  a  small  artificial  lake  a  miniature 
rowboat  of  polished  mahogany  lolled  lazily  in  the 
shade  of  branches  hanging  from  the  shores.  It 
was  a  thriving  garden,  speaking  of  ease  and  pros- 
perity. But  now!  It  looked  as  if  it  had  been 
asleep  since  the  last  few  years.  Gone  are  the 
pebbles  in  the  alleys.  Broken  are  the  window- 
panes  of  the  deserted  hot-house  with  its  shelves 
covered  with  dust  and  its  cracked  vases  with  dried 
stumps  which  were  once  the  trunks  of  tropical 
plants.  Dead  leaves  rustle  under  your  feet  and 
hush  your  steps.  The  trees  have  grown  in  a  maze 
of  unruly  branches.  The  rose  beds  of  yesteryear 
have  turned  wild  and  now  prickly  bushes  bearing 
anemic  flowers  stoop  to  the  ground,  fighting  for 
supremacy  in  the  flower  garden.  Shrubs  of  lilac, 
jasmine  and  honeysuckles — which  blossom  here  in 
the  early  fall  as  well  as  in  spring — faintly  scent 
the  air  with  their  reminiscent  perfume  of  past 
glory.  The  fountains  are  silent  and  the  little  lake 
is  dry — while  the  sad  nakedness  of  its  gray  cement 
marks  the  resting-place  for  the  broken  remains  of 
what  used  to  be  the  shining  little  mahogany  row- 
boat.  The  beautiful  garden  is  now  the  ghost  of 
what  it  used  to  be.  Its  soul  is  alive — perhaps 
more  so  than  before — but  pensive,  sad,  desolate. 
The  greedy  monster  of  war  must  have  reached 
as  far  as  this  peaceful  estate  in  Erenkeuy,  suck- 
ing its  vitality  in  its  all-devastating  tentacles. 


42  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

How  did  it  ever  come  about?  My  uncle  and 
my  aunt  must  have  had  some  reverses  unknown  to 
me,  they  would  not  carelessly  let  their  property 
deteriorate  in  this  way  if  they  could  have  helped 
it.  The  thought  worried  me  and  I  turned  to  my 
aunt  for  an  explanation.  With  her  diminutive  slip- 
pers crushing  the  dead  leaves  covering  the  ground, 
her  jet  black  hair  covered  with  a  delicately  em- 
broidered white  veil,  my  aunt  was  slowly  walking 
on  my  right  through  the  desolate  alleys.  Her  hus- 
band was  next  to  her  while  my  wife,  with  my 
cousins  and  my  other  aunts  walked  ahead  in  the 
distance,  fading  gradually  in  the  subtle  shadows  of 
the  desolate  garden.  My  aunt  explained.  Her 
voice  was  subdued  but  she  was  dispassionate,  firm 
and  resigned. 

"We  have  tried  to  be  too  careful,  my  son,"  she 
said,  "and  God  has  taught  us  a  lesson.  Long  be- 
fore the  war  we  had  deposited  all  our  holdings 
with  a  British  bank  in  London.  We  believed  it 
would  be  safer  there  than  in  any  other  place  and 
we  lived  contented  on  the  income  it  brought  us. 
It  was  nothing  much  but  it  represented  with  this 
place  all  our  savings  and  it  was  enough  to  allow 
us  to  live  happily  and  to  take  good  care  of  our 
estate.  The  war  came  suddenly  and  our  deposits 
in  the  bank  were  seized  by  England.  It  was  fair, 
all  the  nations  did  the  same  and  confiscated  enemy 
properties  within  their  reach.  So  we  bowed  to 
the  inevitable  and  passed  the  long  years  of  war 


ERENKEUY  43 

as  best  we  could.  Your  uncle  took  sick.  He  is 
just  getting  over  an  ailment  which  forced  him  all 
this  time  to  live  in  retirement.  Nothing  was  com- 
ing in.  The  family  is  large,  the  children  had  to 
be  educated.  We  dismissed  all  hired  servants  and 
sold  our  family  jewels.  At  last  the  armistice  came 
and  we  hoped  to  get  back,  what  was  ours.  But 
years  have  passed  and  years  are  passing.  Eng- 
land has  returned  the  properties  of  Armenians, 
Greeks  and  Jews  who  are,  like  ourselves,  Turkish 
citizens,  on  the  grounds  that  they  were  pro-Allies 
but  she  still  refuses  to  give  back  the  private  prop- 
erty of  the  Turks.  No  exception  is  made  for  those 
who,  like  ourselves,  were  not  in  politics  during  the 
war  and  even  for  those  who,  like  your  uncle,  tried 
to  dissuade  the  Government  from  entering  the  war. 
Our  only  crime  seems  to  be  that  we  did  not  betray 
our  country  during  the  war,  that  we  could  not  be 
pro-Ally  after  our  country  had  entered  the  war! 
Well,  what  can  we  do?  We  still  must  be  grateful 
to  God  that  we  have  a  roof  over  our  heads.  Thou- 
sands of  others  are  much  worse  off.  We  can't 
take  care  of  this  property,  but  we  have  mortgaged 
it  and  we  live  as  best  we  can.  God  has  helped 
us  in  the  past,  God  will  help  us  in  the  future  if 
we  realize  that  no  matter  how  careful  we  are  we 
can't  foresee  the  future,  we  cannot  avoid  the  de- 
crees of  Destiny."  I  look  in  silence  at  my  aunt, 
there  is  no  bitterness  in  her,  but  her  finely  chiseled 
face    is    pensive.      She    is    lost    in    retrospective 


44  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

thoughts.  She  is  visualizing  her  garden  as  it  used 
to  be,  while  her  night-dark  eyes  glance,  unseeing, 
over  her  present  surroundings.  She  walks  slowly, 
her  slender  body  wrapped  in  the  loose,  flowing 
folds  of  an  Arabian  "Meshlah"  of  silk,  glittering 
with  silver  threads,  which  she  had  thrown  over  her 
shoulders  when  she  came  out  in  the  garden.  She 
looks  typically  Turkish.  Her  slightly  aquiline 
nose  gives  a  refined  expression  to  her  proud,  clean- 
cut  features.  She  is  small  and  thin,  but  her  dig- 
nified carriage  gives  the  impression  of  power  and 
self-confidence. 

The  Pasha,  walks  next  to  her,  slightly  bent 
by  his  recent  illness.  However  he  is  well  on 
his  way  to  complete  recovery;  his  sprightly  step, 
his  rosy  cheeks,  his  keen  bright  eyes  denote  vigor 
and  growing  strength.  He  caresses  his  small  gray 
beard  and  smiles.  He  passes  his  hand  in  his  wife's 
arm  and  cheerfully  says:  "Hanoum,  we  should 
not  complain,  we  are  better  off  now  than  we  ever 
were,  if  our  trials  have  made  us  wiser.  We  know 
better  the  real  value  of  things  than  we  did  before. 
The  Almighty  has  made  me  recover  my  health, 
we  are  all  alive  and  well.  I  am  not  so  old  yet,  I 
can  work.  I  will  work,  and  you  will  again  help  me 
as  you  did  in  the  past.  We  will  together  rebuild 
our  home.  It  is  for  us  to  deserve  the  help  of  God. 
We  must  work  for  His  mercy.,, 

In  the  silence  that  followed  new  hopes  were  born 
in  me.     The  undaunted  spirit  of  the  Pasha  faith- 


ERENKEUY  45 

fully  reflects  the  feeling  in  the  Turkey  and  the 
Turks  of  to-day.  This  is  the  spirit  that  has  brought 
them  through  all  their  past  trials,  this  is  the  spirit 
that  has  been  taken  for  fatalism,  but  which  is 
nothing  else  than  an  indomitable  blend  of  resig- 
nation, confidence  in  one's  self  and  confidence  in 
the  justice  of  God.  It  will  save  Turkey  and  the 
Turks  as  it  has  saved  them  in  the  past.  They 
never  have  been  despondent  and  they  never  will 
give  up.  Calmly,  without  any  show,  without  any 
complaint  they  always  step  back  into  their  normal 
lives,  confident  that  the  future  will  justify  their 
immovable  trust  in  the  justice  of  God. 

We  slowly  return  home  in  the  silent  twilight  of 
the  evening.  It  is  almost  dinner  time.  The  old 
fashioned  Turkish  families  dine  always  soon  after 
sunset,  no  matter  the  season.  Here  in  Erenkeuy 
the  food  is  supplied  by  a  community  kitchen  to 
which  most  of  the  neighbours  are  subscribers.  It 
is  distributed  twice  a  day,  so  the  food  is  always 
freshly  cooked,  clean  and  wholesome.  It  is  less 
costly  and  less  worrisome  than  to  keep  one's 
own  kitchen.  And  my  surprise  is  great  to  find 
such  an  efficient  modern  innovation  in  a  little  vil- 
lage at  the  outskirts  of  Anatolia. 

After  dinner  we  sit  around  and  talk  some  more. 
My  cousin  plays  and  sings  for  us  some  old  Turkish 
songs.  Then  we  all  retire,  for  the  night,  the 
younger  ones  again  kissing  the  hands  of  their 
elders.    When  we  are  alone  in  our  room,  my  wife 


46  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

tells  me  how  much  she  has  liked  my  aunts.  It 
must  be  mutual  because  there  is  a  knock  on  our 
door  and  my  aunt  enters.  She  comes  to  give  my 
wife  a  pair  of  small  diamond  earrings  as  a  token 
of  welcome  under  her  roof.  My  aunt  insists  on 
her  taking  them.  They  have  no  value  of  their 
own  she  says,  but  they  have  been  in  the  family  for 
a  very  long  time — my  mother  wore  them  when 
she  was  a  child. 


IV 

MODERN  TURKISH  WOMEN 

O  UR  stay  in  Erenkeuy  which  had  started  under 
such  pleasant  auspices  continued  in  perfect 
harmony  and  developed  additional  ties  between  my 
wife  and  her  new  Turkish  relations.  A  most  cor- 
dial friendship  grew  between  her  and  my  cousin, 
the  daughter  of  my  second  aunt.  She  had  been 
educated  at  the  American  College  for  Girls  of  Con- 
stantinople and  her  education  was  therefore  a  most 
happy  blend  of  the  Orient  and  the  Occident.  It 
opened  an  additional  ground  of  common  under- 
standing between  the  two  girls  who  became  rapidly 
inseparable  friends.  The  following  winter  when 
we  were  all  in  the  city  my  cousin,  my  sister  and 
my  wife  formed  a  constant  trio  which  broke  up 
only  when  my  sister  left  Constantinople  for  ex- 
tensive travel  in  Western  Europe. 

There  was  another  Turkish  girl  in  Erenkeuy 
who  came  often  to  call.  She  was  a  school 
mate  of  my  cousin  and  not  only  spoke  perfect 
English  but  wrote  it  perfectly  too.  Her  ambition 
was  to  make  English-speaking  people  familiar  with 
Turkish  literature.  This  Turkish  girl  is  very  ac- 
tive in  the  American   colony   of   Constantinople. 

47 


48  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

She  was  then  hoping  to  induce  the  American  Re- 
lief Association  to  engage  in  relief  work  for  the 
needy  Turks  also.  But  I  am  afraid  that  she  found 
this  task  somewhat  difficult.  I  have  heard  it  said 
that  while  it  is  comparatively  easy  to  obtain  finan- 
cial support  for  Armenians  and  Greeks,  it  is  more 
difficult  to  obtain  funds  for  the  Turks.  A  well- 
managed  campaign  following  an  energetic  propa- 
ganda by  which  Turks  are  represented  as  commit- 
ting wholesale  massacres  and  atrocities  against 
the  Christian  elements  in  the  Near  East  is  always 
sure  to  bring  substantial  financial  assistance  for 
Armenians  and  Greeks  and  incidentally  to  secure 
a  longer  lease  of  life  to  the  jobs  of  all  those  em- 
ployed in  Relief  or  Missionary  work  in  Turkey. 
But  how  could  money  be  raised  for  the  Turks? 
To  create  public  sympathy  for  them  in  America 
would  necessitate  the  destruction  of  all  the  fables 
so  elaborately  created  by  years  of  anti-Turkish 
propaganda.  It  is  easier  to  follow  the  lines  of 
least  resistance,  to  follow  the  beaten  road  by 
spreading  news  of  massacres  and  atrocities  when- 
ever funds  are  needed.  The  only  requirement  in 
this  case  is  to  make  a  propaganda  whose  virulence 
is  in  direct  proportion  to  the  reluctance  of  the  pub- 
lic in  subscribing  for  new  funds.  Whenever  the 
public  seems  to  have  lost  interest  or  seems  to  be 
acquiring  a  more  accurate  knowledge  of  the 
Greeks  and  Armenians — whenever  either  of  these 
conditions  coincide  with  the  need  of  more  funds — a 


MODERN  TURKISH  WOMEN  49 

spectacular  report  on  new  Turkish  atrocities  is 
staged  and  the  flow  of  money  is  stimulated.  The 
tide  runs  Eastward,  but  there  it  is  carefully  canal- 
ized into  Greek  and  Armenian  channels  alone.  The 
money  has  been  collected  for  them  and  must  be 
distributed  exclusively  to  them.  What  difference 
does  it  make  if  hundreds  of  thousands  of  Turks, 
old  men,  women  and  children  rendered  homeless 
by  the  Greek  invasion  or  by  the  repeated  Armenian 
revolutions,  are  dying  from  lack  of  clothes,  lack  of 
shelter,  lack  of  food.  The  Turks  are  human  be- 
ings too,  that  is  true,  but  they  call  God  "Allah." 
And  it  does  not  sound  the  same! 

The  Turks  are  thrown  exclusively  on  their  own 
meagre  resources  for  relieving  their  own  refu- 
gees, for  helping  their  needy.  I  must  say  that 
despite  their  extremely  restricted  means  they 
achieve  this  difficult  task  with  unexpected  effi- 
ciency. The  work  of  relief  is  almost  exclusively 
in  the  hands  of  committees  of  Turkish  women  who 
work  with  untiring  abnegation.  The  president  of 
one  of  these  committees,  Madame  Memdouh  Bey, 
a  cousin  of  my  aunts',  was  quite  a  frequent  visi- 
tor at  Erenkeuy  and  told  us  of  how  they  are  or- 
ganized and  how  they  work.  These  committees 
are  built  upon  such  efficient  business  lines  that  I 
feel  I  should  describe  them  to  some  extent  so  as  to 
give  an  idea  of  the  administrative  and  organizing 
capacities  of  modern  Turkish  women.  Each  re- 
lief association  specializes  in  a  given  activity.   One 


50  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

takes  care  of  refugees,  another  of  the  needy  or- 
phans, a  third  one  of  the  Red  Crescent — which  is 
the  Turkish  Red  Cross — and  so  forth.  Each  As- 
sociation is  divided  into  Committees,  every  one  of 
which  is  assigned  to  one  district  and  is  an  auton- 
omous unit  with  a  president  and  also  a  secretary 
managing  its  executive  work.  These  committees 
are  divided  into  sub-committees:  one  in  charge  of 
collections,  one  responsible  for  distributions  and 
one  to  organize  and  conduct  productive  work. 
The  ladies  in  charge  of  collecting  continuously 
canvass  their  districts  and  classify  all  donations — 
be  they  money  or  wearing  apparel.  They  organize 
tag  days,  garden  parties,  concerts,  etc.,  to  secure 
any  additional  supplies  and  funds  possible. 

My  wife  participated  in  several  of  these  tag 
days  but  on  such  occasions  she  had  to  don  the 
"charshaf"  so  as  not  to  be  conspicuously  the  only 
foreigner  among  the  Turkish  ladies.  On  these 
days  the  streets  of  Stamboul  are  full  of  groups  of 
Turkish  ladies,  young  girls  and  children,  a  red  rib- 
bon pinned  on  their  breasts  with  the  name  of  the 
Association  they  are  collecting  for  written  on  it, 
smilingly  offering  their  tags  to  the  public.  They 
bother  the  foreigners  very  little  and  solicit  charity 
only  from  the  Turks.  The  ladies  who  have  shoul- 
dered the  responsibility  of  distributing  the  charity 
thus  collected  canvass  thoroughly  their  respective 
district,  to  find  the  refugees  or  the  needy  who  de- 
serve the  most  urgent  attention,  "determine  system- 


MODERN  TURKISH  WOMEN  51 

atically  their  needs  and  supply  them  with  the  help 
they  require.  Any  funds  that  remain  available 
to  the  Committee  after  such  distribution  are  then 
turned  over  to  the  sub-committee  in  charge  of  or- 
ganizing and  conducting  productive  work.  Here 
all  needy  women  and  girls  who  can  earn  their  liv- 
ing are  brought  together  and  given  work  in  dress- 
making or  embroidery  establishments  which  are 
under  the  direct  management  of  the  ladies  of  this 
sub-co*mmittee.  The  men  are  similarly  given  work 
in  furniture  making  or  carpentry  establishments. 
Men,  women  and  children  thus  employed  are  of 
course  paid  for  their  work,  their  products  are  sold 
and  the  profits  realized  on  them  are  again  placed 
at  the  disposal  of  the  Committee. 

Turkish  ladies  also  run  orphan  asylums .  where 
little  boys  and  little  girls  who  have  lost  both  father 
and  mother  in  the  turmoil  of  the  different  wars  or 
in  the  forced  evacuation  of  their  homesteads  before 
the  Greek  or  Armenian  irredentists,  are  taken  care 
of  and  educated.  When  the  little  girls  have  reached 
the  age  of  fifteen  they  are  given  into  families  where 
they  work — under  the  continuous  supervision  of 
the  Committee  for  orphans.  The  ladies  of  this  com- 
mittee keep  a  vigilant  and  motherly  watch  over 
the  welfare  of  these  girls.  Once  a  month  the 
girls  are  subjected  to  a  medical  examination  to 
determine  if  their  health  is  properly  taken  care  of. 
Once  a  month  some  lady  of  the  Committee  makes 
an  unexpected  call  in  every  house  where  any  of 


5*  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

these  orphan  girls  are  working  to  ascertain  how 
they  are  treated,  what  work  they  are  doing,  and 
if  they  are  satisfied  with  their  employers.  She  has 
also  the  privilege — which  she  often  takes  advan- 
tage of — using  her  savings  as  a  dowry  to  start 
married  life. 

Needless  to  say  that  the  ladies  engaged  in  this 
relief  work  are  all  volunteers.  They  belong  mostly 
to  the  upper  classes  and  devote  all  their  time  and 
energy  to  the  charities  they  have  undertaken.  We 
have  seen  them  at  work  time  and  again  and  their 
devotion  and  abnegation  is  beyond  praise.  I 
think  that  the  most  active  of  these  ladies — at  least 
those  who  are  most  in  the  public  eye  because  of 
the  executive  positions  they  hold  in  the  Commit- 
tees— are  Madame  Memdouh  Bey,  Madame  Ismail 
Djenani  Bey,  Madame  Edhem  Bey  and  Madame 
Houloussi  Bey.  But  there  are  hundreds  and 
thousands  of  others  whose  work,  while  not  as 
prominent,  is  none  the  less  efficient,  silent  little 
women  with  hearts  of  gold  devoting  their  life  to 
some  work  of  charity  and  mercy. 

In  the  shadows  of  the  old  garden  at  Erenkeuy, 
my  aunts  were  incessantly  engaged  in  bringing 
their  contribution  to  this  general  work  of  relief. 
They  would  sit  in,  a  circle  under  some  big  trees 
and  be  busy  one  day  sewing  garments  for  refugees, 
another  day  packing  medicines  for  the  Red  Cres- 
cent, or  knitting  socks,  sweaters  or  gloves  for  the 
soldiers  of  the  Nationalist  Armies.     They  would 


MODERN  TURKISH  WOMEN  53 

remain  at  work  for  hours  at  a  time,  day  in  and 
day  out,  in  their  quiet,  unostentatious  ways  mak- 
ing a  most  touching  picture:  a  group  incessantly 
engaged  in  humanitarian  work — the  elder  aunt, 
poised  and  refined,  directing  the  work  of  all  and 
participating  in  it  with  all  her  untiring  activity — 
the  second  aunt,  emaciated  by  years  of  domestic 
troubles  caused  by  the  kaleidoscopic  political 
changes  and  wars  of  Turkey,  but  still  cheerful  and 
hopeful — the  youngest  aunt,  as  sweet  as  a  Ma- 
donna and  as  resigned  as  one — cutting,  sewing  or 
packing  with  the  help  of  their  children. 

I  confess  that  I  was  not  a  little  surprised  by  this 
continuous  activity  in  which  all  Turkish  women, 
without  distinction  of  class,  took  a  feverish  part. 
It  is  true  that  even  before  I  left  Constantinople 
women  were  already  much  more  emancipated  than 
they  generally  were  given  credit  for  being  by  for- 
eigners— it  is  true  that  I  was  hoping  to  find  them 
at  my  return  well  on  the  road  to  full  emancipa- 
tion. But  frankly  I  was  not  prepared  for  the  long 
stride  they  had  made  during  these  few  years.  I 
was  especially  not  prepared  to  see  them  so  com- 
petent in  public  organization  and  so  businesslike 
in  the  conduct  of  actual  productive  work.  I  ex- 
pected to  find  them  rather  inefficient  in  the  new 
fields  opened  to  them  for  the  first  time  after  so 
many  generations  of  seclusion. 

I  said  this  frankly  to  my  aunt,  one  Friday  after- 
noon, on  the  eve  of  our  departure  from  Erenkeuy. 


54  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

We  were  enjoying  the  ever  attractive  sunset  from 
the  terraces  of  a  public  garden  on  the  shores  of 
the  Sea  of  Marmora.  At  a  distance  and  blurred 
by  the  purple  haze  of  the  horizon,  Prinkipo  and 
the  other  islands  were  reflecting  their  dark  green 
hills  in  the  opalescent  sea  where  glimmered  the 
dancing  lights  of  an  orange-coloured  sun.  Gentle 
waves  were  breaking  in  cadence  over  the  rocks 
at  our  feet.  Around  us  other  Turkish  families 
were  sitting  at  wooden  tables  in  small  groups.  We 
had  just  finished  sipping  our  coffees.  The  gen- 
eral relaxation  preceding  all  oriental  sunsets  was 
gradually  creeping  over  nature  together  with  the 
lavendar  shadows  of  the  coming  twilight.  My 
aunts  had  been  working  hard  that  day,  and  I  told 
them  how  much  I  admired  them  and  all  their 
Turkish  sisters  for  their  indefatigable  activities, 
for  their  efficiency  in  works  they  had  not  par- 
ticipated in  for  generations. 

My  aunt  looked  at  me.  Then  she  laughed  in 
her  musical  and  contagious  manner:  "You  talk 
like  a  foreigner,  my  son,"  she  said.  "Whenever 
foreigners  talk  of  the  new  emancipation  of  Turkish 
women,  they  express  their  surprise  at  our  effici- 
ency.' ' 

I  explained  to  my  aunt  what  I  meant — I  said: 
"Our  women  have  been  kept  for  so  many  genera- 
tions out  of  all  activities,  their  attention  has  been 
consecrated  for  so  many  centuries  exclusively  on 
their  homes  and  families  and  they  have  so  recently 


MODERN  TURKISH  WOMEN       55 

acquired  their  freedom,  that  I  can  not  help  being 
surprised  to  find  them  turning  their  freedom  into 
really  productive  channels  and  to  see  how  capable 
they  are  in  their  new  pursuits." 

"Why  should  we  be  incapable  or  inefficient  ?" 
asked  my  aunt,  "and  why  should  the  seclusion  of 
Turkish  women  in  past  generations  influence  or 
interfere  with  the  organizing,  administrative  or 
productive  capacities  of  the  Turkish  women  of 
this  generation?  After  all  women  do  not  belong 
to  a  different  race  than  men,  we  are  the  daughters 
of  men  and  inherit  their  qualities — or  their  faults 
— their  capacities  or  their  inefficiency,  just  as  much 
as  their  sons  do.  This  present  generation,  with- 
out distinction  of  sex,  has  inherited  the  accumu- 
lated qualities  or  faults  of  all  past  generations.  It 
is  not  the  sex  which  makes  or  mars  the  individual, 
which  makes  or  mars  his  or  her  talents.  Indivi- 
dual talents,  qualities  or  faults  are  of  course  in- 
herited to  a  great  degree,  but  they  don't  descend 
exclusively  from  women  to  women  and  from  men 
to  men.  Furthermore  they  are  especially  en- 
hanced by  the  education,  upbringing  and  training 
of  the  individual.  And  I  consider  that  the  Turkish 
women  of  this  generation  have  had  individually  a 
better  opportunity  than  their  brothers — or  even 
than  their  western  sisters — to  prepare,  educate  and 
train  themselves  for  the  work  they  are  now  doing. 
The  Turkish  men  of  this  generation  have  had  to 
struggle  for  life  as  soon  as  they  were  out  of  boy- 


56  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

hood  and,  confronted  by  the  necessity  of  earning 
their  immediate  living,  they  did  not  have  the  op- 
portunity of  preparing  themselves  for  the  lines 
of  activity  best  suited  to  their  individual  talents — 
or  else  and  still  worse,  they  have  been  drafted  into 
the  armies  and  have  fought  consecutively  for  the 
last  fifteen  years.  Thousands  have  perished  in 
these  wars,  thousands  and  thousands  have  been 
maimed  or  otherwise  incapacitated  for  life.  As 
for  western  women,  those  of  the  higher  classes — 
therefore  those  who  have  received  a  better  educa- 
tion— are  caught  in  a  whirlwind  of  social  amuse- 
ment as  soon  as  they  are  little  more  than  children 
and  the  greatest  majority  keep  throughout  their 
lives  the  earmark  of  the  influence  that  society  has 
impressed  on  them  in  their  early  youth.  It  is  there- 
fore only  western  women  who  start  life  with  the 
handicap  of  a  lesser  education  who,  through  hard 
work  and  perseverance,  are  generally  the  women 
who  accomplish  things  in  the  Western  world.  This 
is  not  the  case  with  the  Turkish  women  of  this 
generation.  They  have  had  an  opportunity  to  study 
and  prepare  thoroughly  until  they  had  reached 
maturity.  They  had  no  social  life  to  interfere  with 
their  studies.  It  is  true  that  they  did  not  prepare 
to  enter  personally  the  different  fields  of  activity 
as  they  did  not  expect  that  their  full  emanci- 
pation would  come  so  soon.  But  they  were  con- 
scious of  being  the  mothers  ,of  the  coming  gener- 


MODERN  TURKISH  WOMEN  57 

ation,  and  to  prepare  their  sons  and  daughters  for 
their  task,  they  equipped  themselves  with  all  the 
knowledge  they  desired  to  impart.  And  they  had 
plenty  of  leisure  to  do  this.  That  is  why  you  see 
now  so  many  Turkish  women  efficient  in  the  ac- 
tivities they  have  deliberately  shouldered/' 

"Tell  me,  my  aunt,  how  did  the  participation  of 
Turkish  women  in  all  activities  of  life  come  to 
pass?    Was  it  sudden  or , gradual?" 

"When  the  war  came  and  all  the  men  were 
called  to  the  front,  women  unostentatiously  stepped 
into  the  employments  left  vacant.  As  is  generally 
the  case  in  all  movements  of  emancipation  for 
which  people  are  really  ready  the  movement  start- 
ed in  the  lower  classes.  Pushed  by  necessity,  some 
young  girls  dared  to  apply  for  clerical  employ- 
ments in  shops  and  offices.  At  the  time  hundreds 
of  ladies  of  the  higher  classes  were  engaged  in 
helping  at  home  the  Red  Crescent  and  other  relief 
works.  They  had  studied  nursing.  Encouraged  by 
the  fact  that  their  less  fortunate  sisters  had  met 
with  no  opposition  and  were  working  openly  in 
shops  and  offices,  they  in  turn  offered  their  ser- 
vices as  nurses.  Much  of  the  field  work  and  hos- 
pital work  of  the  Red  Crescent  was  confided  to 
fthem  to  liberate  men  for  military  service.  This 
Is  just  what  happened  in  other  countries.  But  the 
change  was  greater  and  more  permanent  in  Tur- 
key. The  daily  contact  of  Turkish  women  with 
the  public  during  the  war  years  resulted  of  course 


58  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

in  tearing  down  the  social  walls  which  had  so  far 
secluded  them.  And  once  these  walls  were  de- 
stroyed no  one  desired  to  build  them  up  again. 
Turkish  women  had  proved  their  administrative 
and  organizing  capacities  in  relief  and  charitable 
work  during  the  war.  There  was  no  reason  why 
they  should  not  continue  to  give  the  country  the 
benefit  of  their  services  even  after  the  general  war 
was  ended.  Furthermore  there  was  still  much  re- 
lief and  charitable  work  to  be  done  and  Turkey 
needed  good  administrators  and  organisers  in  many 
fields.  So  within  a  few  years,  but  with  gradual 
steps,  the  emancipation  of  Turkish  women  became 
complete,  and  to-day  it  is  so  thorough  that  any 
woman  in  Turkey  can  fill  any  responsible  position 
as  long  as  she  has  shown  herself  capable  of  it. 
In  Anatolia,  we  have  a  woman,  Halide  Hanoum, 
who  was  elected  Minister  of  Public  Education  by 
the  National  Assembly.,, 

I  wanted  to  know  how  Anatolia  and  the  rural 
districts  had  reacted  to  this  emancipation  of 
women. 

"The  peasant  women  were  always  more  emanci- 
pated than  the  city  women,  my  son.  Our  pea- 
sants have  remained  in  a  way  much  nearer  to  the 
original  precepts  of  our  religion  and  to  the  old 
traditions  of  the  Turks  than  our  city  dwellers. 
We  have  deviated  from  our  religion  and  racial 
traditions  by  the  contact  we  were  forced  to  enter 
into  with  the  degenerate  Levantine  elements  dwell- 


MODERN  TURKISH  WOMEN  59 

ing  in  the  cities.  Muslim  laws  placed  women  on 
equality  with  men  long  before  western  laws  did 
so,  and  at  the  time  of  the  Prophet  women  were 
allowed  more  freedom  than  they  ever  had  before. 
The  Koran  is  full  of  mentions  of  women  who  were 
participating  in  public  life  and  the  only  restriction 
placed  on  women  in  the  Holy  Book — a  restric- 
tion which  was  necessary  to  correct  the  customs  of 
the  Arabs  living  in  warm  climates — is  that  women 
should  not  appear  in  public  unless  they  were  cov- 
ered from  the  breasts  down  to  the  ankles.  This 
is  a  simple  rule  of  decency  and  modesty.  As  for 
the  original  Turkish  customs  they  used  to  be  so 
liberal  that  women  participated  in  public  affairs 
among  the  nomad  Turkish  tribes  roaming  on  the 
plateau  of  Pamir,  centuries  ago.  Many  a  Turkish 
woman  was  then  the  recognized  chieftain  of  her 
tribe.  Many  a  Turkish  Joan  of  Arc  has  fought 
on  the  battlefields  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  her 
warriors.  It  is  only  after  the  Muslims  and  the 
Turks  came  in  contact  with  the  decadent  Byzantine 
Empire,  it  is  only  after  the  Turks  conquered  the 
dissolute  colonies  of  old  Rome  and  ancient  Greece 
in  Asia  Minor  that  the  Turks — especially  those  who 
settled  in  the  cities — adopted  certain  customs  of 
the  conquered  races.  Unfortunately  these  cus- 
toms are  identified  to-day,  in  the  eyes  of  the  for- 
eigners, with  the  Turks  and  the  Muslims  as  if 
they  had  originated  with  them.  But  that  is  not 
the  case.     While  polygamy  was  not  strictly  for- 


60  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

bidden  so  as  to  prevent — as  was  then  the  case  in 
Europe — the  increase  of  bastards  and  illegitimate 
children,  Harems  in  the  original  sense  of  the  word 
did  not  exist  in  Muslim  or  Turkish  countries  un- 
til they  assimilated  byzantine  customs.  The  seclu- 
sion of  women  in  separate  apartments  where  they 
were  condemned  to  lead  the  life  of  recluses  pamp- 
ered and  spoiled  solely  for  the  pleasure  of  their 
master,  can  be  retraced  to  the  "Gyneceum"  of 
Byzance.  So  can  the  custom  of  veiling  the  women 
when  they  went  out,  as  evidenced  by  the  pictures 
on  old  Grecian  vases.  The  barbarous  institu- 
tion of  Eunuchs  is  exclusively  Byzantine.  All 
these  were  certainly  not  originally  Turkish  cus- 
toms and  they  have  nearly  never  been  practised  by 
the  peasants  and  country  people  of  Turkey,  except 
the  custom  which  made  it  obligatory  for  women 
to  be  entirely  veiled  in  the  presence  of  men.  Other- 
wise the  rural  population  never  restricted  its 
women  in  any  way.  They  always  participated  in 
the  every-day  life  of  their  men.  You  should  have 
been  with  us  when  I  went  to  Eski-Shehir,  in  Ana- 
tolia, with  your  uncle  during  the  war."  Here  my 
aunt  drew  such  a  picture  of  her  arrival  at  Eski- 
Shehir  that  I  will  try  to  give  an  account  of  it,  in 
her  own  words. 

"It  was  before  your  uncle  was  taken  ill,"  she 
said,  "and  he  was  considering  starting  some  local 
industries  in  Anatolia.  He  chose  Eski-Shehir  on 
account  of  the  railroad  facilities  it  offers  and  we 


MODERN  TURKISH  WOMEN  61 

went  there.  Only  a  few  men  who  had  been  pre- 
vented from  going  to  war  on  account  of  old  age 
or  infirmity  were  left  in  the  country.  But  the 
people  who  had  heard  that  a  pasha  from  Constanti- 
nople was  coming  with  his  wife,  sent  a  delegation 
to  meet  us  at  the  station.  They  insisted  on  our 
being  their  guests  and  they  informed  us  that  they 
had  especially  prepared  a  house  for  us.  To  re- 
fuse would  have  hurt  their  feelings.  They  had 
chosen  the  best  available  house  in  the  whole  neigh- 
bourhood. It  was  located  far  in  the  country  at 
an  hour  and  a  nalfs  ride  in  a  carriage  from  the 
station.  We  arrived  in  the  evening  and  by  the 
time  the  customary  greetings  had  been  exchanged 
with  the  delegation  it  was  already  dark.  The 
whole  delegation  insisted  on  forming  an  escort  of 
honour  and  accompanying  us  to  our  lodgings.  We 
took  a  carriage  and  the  ten  or  twelve  peasants 
which  formed  the  delegation  got  on  their  horses, 
two  preceding  us,  the  rest  forming  a  semi-circle 
around  our  carriage.  In  the  dark  night  we  went 
through  valleys  and  hilltops  escorted  by  this  most 
picturesque  cavalcade;  mostly  old  men  with  white 
beards,  but  sitting  straight  on  their  horses.  Of 
the  only  two  young  men  who  were  there,  one 
was  blind  in  one  eye,  and  the  other  was  lame. 
They  all  wore  their  country  costumes:  trousers 
cut  as  riding  breeches  but  worn  without  leggings, 
wide  belts  of  gay  colour  wrapped  from  hips  to 
the  middle  of  the  breast  and  tight-fitting  tunics 


62  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

crossed  by  cartridge-bearing  leather  thongs.  With 
their  turbaned  heads  and  their  rifles  swinging 
from  their  shoulders  they  made  a  martial  picture 
in  contrast  with  their  courteous  demeanour,  their 
subdued  voices  and  their  most  peaceful  eyes.  I 
must  say,  however,  that  it  was  a  reassuring  escort 
to  have  for  crossing  the  country  at  night. 

We  arrived  at  the  house,  a  darling  little  farm- 
house of  one  floor  in  the  midst  of  tall  trees  which 
reflected  their  spectral  shadows  in  the  gurgling 
black  waters  of  a  stream.  Our  escort  dismounted 
and  entered  the  house  with  us  where  we  were  re- 
ceived by  a  committee  of  women.  They  had  pre- 
pared supper  and  had  made  everything  ready  for 
us.  They  were  dressed  in  long,  flowing  robes, 
their  heads  covered  with  a  veil  and  they  stood 
respectfully  with  their  hands  folded,  watching  us 
carefully  so  as  to  anticipate  our  smallest  wishes. 
Dear,  pure,  honest  country  folk  of  Anatolia !  How 
much  (they  can  teach  us,  how  much  they  can 
teach  the  western  world  of  hospitality,  modesty 
and  faithfulness!  The  women  were  veiled  in  the 
presence  of  men,  but  they  acted  their  part  as 
hostesses  while  the  men  talked  in  the  same  room 
with  my  husband.  After  having  settled  us  to  their 
own  satisfaction  they  departed  all  together,  even 
the  owners  of  the  house  insisting  on  leaving  so 
that  we  might  be  more  comfortable.  They  left 
us  their  servants  to  take  care  of  us.  Next  day 
and    all    the    days    of    our    stay    at    Eski-Shehir, 


MODERN  TURKISH  WOMEN  63 

groups  of  peasant  girls  would  come  to  visit  me, 
to  enquire  if  I  needed  anything  and  to  entertain 
me  as  best  they  could.  They  would  shyly  stand 
at  the  door  until  I  forced  them  to  come  in.  I 
had  all  the  trouble  in  the  world  to  break  them 
of  the  habit  of  sitting  on  the  floor  out  of  respect 
to  their  guests,  as  they  considered  it  ill-bred  to 
sit  on  a  level  with  me.  They  would  come  in  the 
evenings,  for  during  the  day  they  would  be  busy 
working  in  their  fields.  Healthy  and  strong 
women  they  were,  with  red  cheeks  and  bashful 
eyes.  They  were  not  the  type  of  women  living 
for  the  pleasure  of  their  husbands,  or  of  slaves 
toiling  for  their  masters.  They  were  wholesome 
women,  good  daughters,  good  wives,  good  mothers 
who  had  for  generations  been  conscious  of  their 
duty  to  the  community  and  accomplished  it  effi- 
ciently— helpmates  freely  helping  their  men,  freely 
assisting  them  or  willingly  shouldering  their  hus- 
bands' responsibility  in  case  of  absence  and  taking 
care  of  the  welfare  of  their  families,  their  homes, 
their  fields  or  their  villages.  And  withal  keeping 
their  unassuming  modesty  intact — the  modesty 
which  is,  or  should  be,  the  national  characteristic 
of  all  Turkish  women." 

My  aunt  was  silent  for  a  while.  Her  com- 
pelling personality  made  us  fully  share  her  love 
for  her  Anatolian  sisters.  She  slowly  got  up 
and  gave  the  signal  for  returning  home.  We 
walked  together.    It  was  our  last  day  in  Erenkeuy 


64  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

and  I  had  not  yet  exhausted  her  views  on  the 
subject  of  the  emancipation  of  Turkish  women.  I 
now  asked  her  if  she  thought  that  its  influence 
had  been  salutory  upon  general  morality  in  the 
big  cities. 

"It  certainly  has,"  answered  my  aunt.  "In 
the  old  days  we  did  not  know  the  friends  of  our 
husbands,  brothers  or  sons.  We  were  excluded 
from  the  company  of  men  and  could  not  therefore 
help  our  own  sons  in  selecting  their  friends.  Much 
less  of  course  our  husbands.  We  always  feared 
the  deteriorating  influence  that  even  one  bad  asso- 
ciate can  have  on  a  whole  crowd.  The  Turkish 
proverb  says  that  one  bad  apple  is  sufficient  to 
rot  a  whole  basket  full  of  good  apples.  Men  left 
to  their  own  resources  are  liable  to  seek  distraction 
in  drinking,  in  cards  and  other  unwholesome  pas- 
times. Many  a  Turkish  man  has  suffered  in  the 
past  the  consequences  of  the  exclusion  of  women 
from  social  gatherings — just  as  many  a  western 
man  suffers  now  from  the  consequences  of  leading 
too  absorbing  a  club  life.  But  now  that  we  par- 
ticipate in  social  reunions  as  well  as  in  other 
activities  we  can  more  fully  make  our  influence 
felt  among  the  men.  Our  continuous  contact 
with  their  friends  has  rendered  our  husbands, 
brothers  and  sons  more  careful  about  the  char- 
acter of  the  men  they  associate  with.  Now  that 
you  are  married  you  would  not  ask  to  your  house 
a   man   about   whose   character   you   might   have 


MODERN  TURKISH  WOMEN  65 

some  doubts.  But  if  your  wife  was  not  with  you, 
you  might  not  be  so  strict  about  the  manners  and 
the  behaviour  of  those  you  associate  with. 

Of  course  we  Turkish  women  of  this  generation 
have  a  double  duty  to  perform  now  that  we  have 
acquired  our  freedom.    We  must  first  see  that  this 
freedom   is  not   turned   into   license   as   in    some 
western  countries,  where  young  men  and  young 
girls  are  allowed  to  go  out  alone  in  couples,  or — 
still  worse — where  husbands  and  wives  cultivate 
different  sets  of  friends.     We  must  also   watch 
very  carefully  over  our  modesty,  and  this  is  our 
most   difficult   task.      Many   Turkish   women   are 
taking  advantage  of  their  new  freedom  to  trample 
all  modesty  under  their  feet.     Alas!  too  many  are 
already     "over-westernized"     and     associate     too 
freely  with  foreigners  or  with  Levantinized  Turks 
in  the  salons  of  Pera.     Not  that  I  object  to  the 
society  of  foreign  men,  but  how  are  we  to  know 
the  character  and  the  antecedents  of  all  those  for- 
eigners   who   are   at   present   in    Constantinople? 
They    are    mostly    officers    in    a    far-away    van- 
quished country  or  civilians  desirous   of  staking 
their  all  in  get-rich-quick  business  ventures.    How 
are  we  to  know  of  their  education,  their  morals 
and  their  principles?     We  are  therefore  obliged 
to  be  especially  careful  with  foreign  men.     Our 
duty  now  is  to  raise  the  new  generation  of  girls 
as  rationally  as  the  well-educated  western  girls. 
We  want  our  girls  to  preserve  their  modesty,  no 


66  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

matter  how  free  they  are,  we  want  them  to  know 
how  to  take  good  care  of  themselves,  no  matter 
whom  .they  associate  with.  We  don't  want  them 
to  abuse  their  freedom.  We  want  them  to  be  as 
rational  and  thoughtful  as  my  little  American 
daughter  here." 

And  so  saying  my  aunt  lovingly  passed  her  arm 
on  my  wife's  shoulders,  in  a  graceful  movement 
of  all-embracing  protection.  They  looked  at  each 
other  with  comprehending  love.  The  girl  of  New 
Orleans  smiled  her  grateful  appreciation  in  the 
eyes  of  the  woman  of  Turkey. 


LIFE  ON  THE  BOSPHORUS 

TT  was  with  real  regrets  that  we  left  Erenkeuy. 
A  visit  in  such  a  congenial  atmosphere  ends 
always  too  soon  even  if  it  has  extended  over  two 
weeks.  But  I  wanted  my  wife  to  know  our 
cousins  who  lived  on  the  Bosphorus,  to  whom 
we  had  already  announced  our  coming,  and  I 
wanted  her  to  come  in  close  touch  with  the  dif- 
ferent aspects  of  home  life  in  Turkey,  to  see  the 
Turks  from  different  angles.  So  we  had  to  tear 
ourselves  from  Erenkeuy,  after  exchanging  re- 
peated promises  of  seeing  each  other  soon  and 
often  in  town,  promises  which — needless  to  say — 
were  kept  faithfully  on  both  sides. 

In  the  strict  sense  of  the  word  our  cousins 
are  not  really  cousins  of  ours  and  would  not  even 
count  as  relations  in  western  countries.  How- 
ever, as  I  said  before,  family  bonds  are  so  strong 
in  Turkey,  the  clan  spirit  is  so  developed,  that 
we  call  cousins  even  the  nephews  of  our  aunts 
by  marriage.  We  consider  them  as  such  and  we 
are  brought  up  to  feel  toward  them  as  such. 

Our  cousins  live  on  the  European  side  of  the 
Bosphorus,  at  Emirghian,  about  half-way  between 
the  Sea  of  Marmora  and  the  Black  Sea,  in  one  of 

67 


68  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

those  old  houses  built  right  on  the  edge  of  the 
water.  Theirs  is  one  of  the  few  remaining  typi- 
cally Turkish  country  houses  on  the  Bosphorus, 
most  of  the  others  have  either  been  destroyed  by 
fire,  fallen  in  ruins,  or  else  been  replaced  by  modern 
structures — villas,  apartment  houses,  warehouses 
and  depots  which  have,  alas,  contaminated  with 
their  ultra-modern  and  commercial  appearance  the 
otherwise  smilingly  passive  shores  of  the  Bos- 
phorus. Thus  this  waterway,  unique  in  the  world, 
this  natural  canal  between  two  seas,  which  winds 
its  way  in  graceful  curves  between  the  green  hills 
of  two  continents,  offers  now  the  sad  spectacle 
of  charred  ruins — where  a  few  tumbling  walls 
blackened  by  fire  are  all  that  is  left  of  the  beauti- 
ful estates  which  adorned  it  but  a  few  years  ago — 
with  here  and  there  a  few  pretentious  buildings 
whose  showy  architecture  is  a  patent  proof  of  the 
rapidity  with  which  their  owners  have  accumu- 
lated wealth  during  the  war  and  post-war  profiteer- 
ing period.  Worst  of  all,  the  lower  Bosphorus 
is  now  bristling  with  quite  a  few  high  apartment 
houses  peopled  with  chattering  and  noisy  Levan- 
tines. Such  apartment  houses,  with  their  tenants,  are 
as  out  of  place  on  the  wonderful  shores  of  this  peer- 
less waterway  as  the  corrugated  roofs  and  asbestos 
walls  of  the  coal  depots  and  general  merchandising 
warehouses,  hastily  erected  in  recent  years  under 
the  guidance  of  interested — if  inartistic — foreign 
business  men. 


LIFE  ON  THE  BOSPHORUS  69 

All  the  way  to  Emirghian  I  gave  thanks  to 
the  Almighty  for  having  protected  at  least  a 
few  imperial  palaces  and  a  few  old  estates  which 
could  still  give  an  idea  of  what  the  Bosphorus 
looked  like  before  the  war.  A  few,  low,  rambling 
buildings  of  one  or,  at  the  most,  two  floors,  grow- 
ing lengthwise  instead  of  upward,  without  a 
thought  of  economizing  the  land,  surrounded 
with  parks  where  grow  old  trees,  are  happily  still 
left  as  a  living  proof  of  past  splendour  and  good 
taste,  and  complete  disregard  of  business  ad- 
vantages. 

Our  cousin's  house  is  one  of  them,  possibly  a  lit- 
tle more  dilapidated,  a  little  less  comfortable  than 
most  of  the  other  surviving  buildings,  as  it  has 
been  for  a  very  long  time  deprived  of  the  yearly 
repairs  that  so  large  a  house  always  needs.  But 
what  do  we  care:  within  the  walls  of  its  almost 
limitless  entrance  hall,  on  the  wide  steps  of  its 
gorgeously  curved  classical  starways,  behind  the 
latticed  windows  of  its  immense  rooms,  the  hos- 
pitality we  find  is  as  sincere  and  as  great  as  the 
one  extended  generations  ago  by  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  Grand  Vezirs  of  Turkey,  who  was  then 
the  head  of  the  family,  at  a  time  when  to  be  the 
Grand  Vezir  of  Turkey  really  meant  all  the  splen- 
dour that  the  world  suggests. 

Our  hostess  is  a  widow  who  speaks  French  so 
fluently  that  she  would  be  taken  for  a  French 
woman  if  she  did  not  have  the  graceful  poise  and 


70  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

dignity  so  typical  of  Turkish  women.  Her  hus- 
band filled  a  most  important  position  in  the  Im- 
perial palace  in  the  time  of  the  late  Sultan,  and 
was  one  of  the  most  accomplished  men  I  have 
ever  met  anywhere.  Besides  being  a  distinguished 
diplomat  he  was  an  art  connoisseur  and  had  ac- 
cumulated a  priceless  collection  of  antique  pictures, 
porcelains,  carpets  and  books.  Alas,  this  collection 
was  destroyed  a  few  years  ago  when  their  town 
house  fell  the  victim  of  one  of  those  all-destroying 
fires  characteristic  of  Constantinople.  Only  a  few 
of  the  secondary  pieces  of  the  collection  which 
were  left  in  their  country  house  on  the  Bosphorus 
can  still  be  seen  there  and  are  an  attestation  of 
what  the  collection  used  to  be.  To  cap  it  all, 
the  collection  was  insured  in  pre-war  days  in 
Turkish  pounds  which  at  that  time  had  a  gold 
value,  and  the  fire  having  taken  place  during  the 
war,  and  insurance  being  paid  after  the  armistice, 
the  family  could  only  collect  Turkish  paper  pounds. 
Thus,  besides  the  irreparable  moral  loss,  they  had 
to  suffer  a  very  large  material  loss  by  recovering 
only  one  seventh  of  the  value  the  collection  was 
insured  originally  for.  This  is  another  example 
among  millions  of  the  terrible  losses  suffered  in 
the  last  years  by  the  Turks  for  reasons  absolutely 
outside  their  control.  It  is  a  wonder  that,  despite 
all,  they  keep  their  composure  and  their  dignity. 
Calm  before  the  most  unimaginable  trials,  keeping 
a  firm  front  through  the  worst  calamities,  never 


LIFE  ON  THE  BOSPHORUS  ft 

complaining,  never  discouraged,  never  losing 
faith — truly  the  Turkish  race  is  the  most  stoical 
of  all. 

Our  young  host,  the  only  son  of  the  family,  is 
just  on  a  leave  from  Germany  where  he  went  dur- 
ing the  war  to  finish  his  studies  and  where  he 
has  remained  since  then,  having  obtained  a  leading 
position  in  one  of  the  largest  electrical  engineering 
enterprises  in  Germany.  His  mother  is  justly 
proud  of  the  success  of  her  son  and  we  frankly 
rejoice  with  her  that  one  of  us,  a  pure  Turk 
in  all  respects,  has  evidently  acquired  such  a 
complete  technical  knowledge  and  has  shown  so 
much  capacity  as  to  be  picked  out  to  fill  a  respon- 
sible position  in  one  of  the  leading  firms  of  a 
country  known  the  world  over  for  the  technical 
ability  of  its  electrical  engineers.  We  ask  Kemal 
to  tell  us  his  experiences  in  Germany,  but  he  is 
too  modest  to  talk  of  himself.  He  prefers  to  tell 
us  how  his  firm  is  organized.  He  greatly  admires 
the  Germans  for  their  efficiency  but  is  not  other- 
wise very  keen  about  living  with  them.  He  finds 
the  Germans  too  machine  made,  too  materialistic 
to  suit  a  Turk.  His  one  ambition  is  to  perfect 
himself  in  his  profession  and  then  to  settle  in 
Turkey  where  he  will  be  able  to  give  to  his 
country  the  benefit  of  the  knowledge  he  will 
have  acquired.  He  wants  to  return  to  Ger- 
many for  this  purpose,  but  when  we  press  him 
to  tell  us  if  it  is  for  this  purpose  alone  he  admits 


72  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

that  he  has  another  more  personal  reason:  he  is 
engaged  to  a  young  girl  in  Munich  and  at  the 
end  of  his  leave  his  mother  will  accompany  him 
to  Germany  where  he  will  get  married.  The  poor 
boy  is  heart-broken  that  his  father,  Ismet  Bey, 
did  not  live  long  enough  to  meet  his  wife.  Kemal 
speaks  English  most  perfectly  and  says  that  his 
future  wife  does  so  also.  He  is  therefore  looking 
forward  to  having  her  meet  her  new  cousin,  my 
wife. 

The  drawing-room  in  which  we  were  was  a 
spacious  room  with  many  doors  and  windows. 
The  lattices  were  up  and  the  windows  opened  and 
the  breeze  from  the  Bosphorus  is  so  cool  at  this 
season  that  the  great  open  fireplace  where  big 
logs  burned  was  barely  enough  to  warm  the  room. 
We  sat  near  the  windows  on  a  wide  divan  which 
skirted  about  one-fourth  of  the  walls  of  the  room, 
and  to  keep  us  warmer  they  had  placed  at  the 
corner  nearest  to  us,  a  big  brazero  of  shining 
copper,  filled  with  glowing  charcoal.  The  win- 
dows were  nearly  over  the  water,  so  near  in  fact 
that  the  rustling  of  the  current,  which  is  quite 
strong  on  the  Bosphorus,  was  plainly  audible.  It 
gave  the  impression  of  being  on  a  ship:  the  blue 
waters  ran  southward  in  an  endless  chain  of 
racing  wavelets  and  the  house  seemed  to  be  float- 
ing toward  the  north.  But  opposite  us  the  green 
hills  of  Asia,  with  a  line  of  houses  skirting  the 
shores  and  with  big  Anatolian  mountains  tower- 


LIFE  ON  THE  BOSPHORUS  73 

ing  the  blue-gray  horizon  reminded  us  that  our 
seeming  flight  toward  the  Black  Sea  was  only  an 
illusion  caused  by  the  incessant  rush  of  the  current. 
Big  "mahons"  or  Turkish  barges  which  have  kept 
the  graceful  lines  of  the  old  caiks,  passed  before 
our  eyes,  gliding  silently  on  the  blue  wavelets, 
their  Oriental  triangular  sails  swelled  in  the  breeze. 
A  large  Italian  cargo  boat  plowed  its  way  toward 
some  romantic  port  of  the  Black  Sea:  Costanza, 
where  Roumanian  peasant  girls  will  purchase  its 
cargo  of  vividly  coloured  textiles  in  exchange 
for  oil,  so  much  needed  in  Italy,  or  perhaps 
Batoum,  where  a  cosmopolitan  crowd  of  trad- 
ers will  give  flour,  sugar  and  other  food 
supplies  to  the  starving  population  of  Caucasia 
against  non-edible  jewels,  furs  or  platinum  of 
limitless  value.  Who  knows?  Perhaps  it  goes  to 
Odessa  or  Novorossisk  to  try  bartering  with  Tar- 
tars and  Russians,  Mongols  and  even  Chinamen 
who  now  form  the  motley  crowd  of  Bolshevik 
Southern  Russia.  The  Bosphorus  is  the  gate  of  a 
whole  world — a  world  fraught  with  mysterious 
possibilities;  tempting  opportunities  of  stupendous 
gains,  frightful  danger  of  very  real  losses,  com- 
mercial and  political  possibilities  of  such  magni- 
tude that  it  makes  you  shudder  to  think  of  them. 
And  here  we  are  at  the  very  gate  of  this  world, 
a  gate  patrolled  as  usual  by  England.  See  that 
gray  destroyer,  slim  as  an  arrow,  speeding  toward 
its  base,  the  harbour  of  Constantinople.     It  flies 


74  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

the   British   flag   and   is    coming   back   from   the 
Black  Sea. 

I  am  called  back  from  my  dreams  and  visions 
by  Madame  Ismet  Bey  who  is  pointing  out  the 
outstanding  places  of  the  landscape  to  my  wife. 
From  where  we  are  the  Bosphorus  looks  like  a 
lake,  the  sinuous  curves  at  the  two  ends  making 
it  impossible  to  distinguish  where  Europe  ends 
and  Asia  begins.  There,  on  our  extreme  left  and 
near  the  water,  is  the  country  estate  of  Khedive 
Ismail  Pasha,  father  of  the  last  Khedive  of  Egypt 
who  was  dethroned  by  England  during  the  war 
because  of  his  pro-Turkish  sentiments.  Ismail 
Pasha's  estate  is  in  Europe  but  the  hills  which 
seem  next  to  it  are  on  the  other  side,  in  Asia, 
and  the  funny  looking  buildings  on  top  as  well 
as  the  low  buildings  on  the  shore  are  the  depots 
of  the  Standard  Oil  Company.  They  used  to 
belong  to  an  uncle  of  Madame  Ismet  Bey  but 
now  they  belong  to  the  Standard  Oil.  No,  her 
uncle  has  not  sold  his  rights :  it  just  happened  that 
the  Standard  Oil  stepped  in  before  he  had  time 
to  have  them  renewed.  His  house,  or  what  used 
to  be  his  house  is  the  one  just  opposite  us.  He 
used  to  have  the  most  beautiful  caiks  in  the  Bos- 
phorus, ten  or  fifteen  years  ago,  and  his  wife  and 
his  daughters  would  go  every  Friday  to  the  Sweet 
Waters  of  Asia  in  those  long,  slim  racing  barks, 
with  tapering  ends,  rowed  by  three  or  sometimes 
four  boatmen  with  flowing  sleeves,  a  beautiful  em- 


LIFE  ON  THE  BOSPHORUS  7$ 

broidered  carpet  covering  the  stern,  its  corners 
trailing  in  the  sea.  He  used  to  have  a  passion 
for  flowers  and  you  can  see  even  from  here  the 
roof  of  the  hot-house  where  he  grew  the  most 
exotic  plants  he  could  think  of:  rare  varieties  of 
chrysanthemums  and  poppies  from  the  Far  East, 
tulips  from  Turkestan  and  Persia,  mogra  and 
lotus  trees  from  India.  Now  he  has  sold  his 
house  and  has  barely  enough  to  live  on. 

The  Sweet  Waters  of  Asia  are  nearby,  just  be- 
tween the  ruins  of  the  old  mediaeval  castle — built 
by  Sultan  Mahomet  the  Conqueror  before  he  laid 
siege  to  Byzance — and  the  Imperial  Kiosks  of 
Chiok  Soo,  a  real  jewel.  Further  to  the  right — that 
low,  rambling  white  building  is  the  yali  of  the 
family  of  Mahmoud  Pasha.  They  entertain  a 
great  deal  and  have  asked  us  to  tea  next  Sun- 
day. Now  we  pass  again  without  realizing  it 
to  the  European  shores;  the  old  castle  on  the  hill 
is  the  Castle  of  Europe,  the  first  stronghold  of 
the  Turks  on  this  side  of  the  Bosphorus,  and  the 
big  building  next  to  it  is  the  famous  Robert  Col- 
lege, the  American  College  for  Boys. 

The  view  is  so  gorgeous  that  it  cannot  be 
described.  I  wish  I  had  a  canvas  and  the  tech- 
nique of  Courbet,  the  talent  of  Turner  and  the 
daring  of  Whistler  to  paint  in  all  its  splendour 
the  clear  sky  of  the  Bosphorus,  so  clear  and  so 
blue  that  the  eyes  can  almost  see  that  it  is  endless 
— the  red  and  gold  flakes  of  its  dark-green  vegeta- 


76  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

tion,  so  luxuriant  that  it  speaks  of  centuries  of 
loving  care — the  peaceful  atmosphere  of  its  old 
houses,  so  restful  that  you  can  feel  that  genera- 
tions of  thinkers  and  philosophers  have  meditated 
behind  their  walls — the  harmonious  outline  of  its 
hills,  so  smilingly  round  that  only  immemorial  age 
can  have  so  smoothly  curved  them — the  mystery 
of  its  always  running  currents,  running  so  con- 
tinuously that  they  should  have  long  ago  emptied 
the  Black  Sea  into  the  Mediterranean.  I  wish  I 
was  endowed  with  enough  insight  to  understand 
the  mischievous  whisper  of  its  always  dancing,  al- 
ways running  little  waves.  I  believe  they  want  to 
tell  us  that  although  the  winds  have  pushed  them 
south  ever  since  time  began  and  will  continue  to 
push  them  south  until  the  end  of  the  world,  al- 
though they  seem  to  follow  the  wind  in  an  endless 
mad  rush,  they  still  are  there.  They  mis- 
chievously laugh  because  they  will  always  remain 
there,  despite  the  wind  and  all  its  strength.  I 
believe  they  want  to  give  the  Turks  an  object 
lesson  as  to  how  nothing  can  be  swept  away 
against  its  will. 

Our  first  evening  in  Emirghian  passed  very 
quietly.  The  Turks  being  very  reserved  by  nature 
it  always  takes  some  time  before  the  ice  is  broken, 
even  among  members  of  the  same  family.  We 
passed  the  time  sitting  around  and  talking,  giving 
a  chance  to  our  hosts  and  to  my  wife  to  know 
each  other. 


LIFE  ON  THE  BOSPHORUS  77 

But  for  every  day  thereafter  Madame  Ismet 
Bey  and  her  son  had  arranged  some  special  enter- 
tainment for  us.  Quietly,  unostentatiously  and 
with  the  characteristic  lack  of  show  with  which 
well-bred  Turks  entertain  their  guests,  they  suc- 
ceeded in  giving  us,  without  our  being  aware  that 
it  had  all  been  pre-arranged,  a  different  distrac- 
tion every  afternoon.  Friends  and  neighbours 
would  drop  in  for  tea  one  evening  and  a  little 
dance  or  a  little  bridge  game  would  be  organized 
as  on  the  spur  of  the  moment.  Another  after- 
noon they  would  take  us  in  their  rowboat  for  an 
outing  on  the  Bosphorus  and  we  would  stop 
either  to  call  on  some  friends  or  to  walk  around 
or  take  some  refreshments  in  the  casino  of  the 
park  at  Beikos,  which  at  this  season  is  quiet  and 
pleasant.  Once  we  had  a  small  picnic  at  the  Sweet 
Waters  of  Asia.  We  went  in  the  rowboat  up  this 
little  stream — a  miniature  Bosphorus,  with  old 
tumbled-down  houses  by  the  water,  big  trees  lean- 
ing their  branches  covered  with  autumnal  golden 
leaves  over  old  walls  covered  with  vines,  here  and 
there  a  ramshackle  wooden  bridge  spanning  the 
stream  and  giving  it  the  appearance  of  a  Turkish 
Venice,  and  then  large  meadows  on  both  sides, 
where  groups  of  people  were,  like  us,  taking  ad- 
vantage of  the  last  few  days  of  summery  sun- 
shine of  the  year.  Old  Turkish  women  in  black 
dusters,  their  hair  covered  with  a  white  veil  ar- 
ranged Sphinx  fashion,  were  sitting  cross-legged 


78  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

near  the  water  in  silent  and  impassible  contem- 
plation, while  younger  women — their  daughters 
or  granddaughters — were  sitting  a  few  steps  away 
on  chairs,  drinking  coffee,  smoking  cigarettes 
and  chattering  away  their  time.  Small  boys  in 
vividly  coloured  shirts,  knickers  hanging  loose  be- 
low their  knees,  wearing  shapeless  fezzes  with  a 
small  blue  bead — against  the  evil  eye — would  be 
running  around  and  prancing  with  little  girls  clad 
in  Kate  Greenaway  skirts  coloured  with  the  bright- 
est shades  of  the  rainbow,  their  loosened  hair 
flapping  over  their  narrow  shoulders.  Simple  folk 
all,  neither  peasants  or  city  folk — just  the  families 
of  small  village  traders — the  kind  of  people  whose 
pictures  foreign  newspapermen  find  a  malign 
pleasure  in  publishing  as  representative  Turks. 
They  might  as  well  publish  pictures  of  tenement 
house  dwellers  of  New  York  and  London  as  being 
representative  Americans  or  Britishers.  Many 
gypsies  were  there,  going  from  group  to  group 
to  tell  fortunes,  to  sing  or  to  dance,  gypsy  women 
of  all  ages  and  of  suspicious  cleanliness,  who  can 
always  be  detected  in  Constantinople  by  the  fact 
that  they  are  the  only  ones  to  wear  coloured 
bloomers,  while  some  old  Greek  and  Armenian 
women  wear  black  bloomers.  By  the  way,  another 
conception  of  foreigners  which  my  wife  shared 
but  which  she  lost  after  a  short  stay  in  Constanti- 
nople was  this  very  one  of  bloomers:  in  all  our 


LIFE  ON  THE  BOSPHORUS  79 

stay  in  Turkey  she  did  not  see  a  single  Turkish 
woman  wearing  them. 

A  little  further  up  on  the  shores  of  the  stream 
was  a  group  of  Kurdish  porters,  big,  athletic 
fellows,  watching  a  bout  of  wrestling:  two  of 
their  companions  stripped  to  the  waist,  their  legs 
and  feet  bare,  their  bodies  soaked  in  oil,  engaged 
in  a  k  bout  of  cat-as-catch-can,  while  further  up 
some  Laze  sailors  of  the  Black  Sea  were  dancing 
their  slow  rhythmic  national  dance  to  the  sound 
of  weird  flutes  and  tambourines 

We  had  to  go  well  upstream  to  find  a  place 
where  we  could  enjoy  our  picnic  peacefully  and 
without  onlookers.  But  I  must  say  that  we  en- 
joyed it  thoroughly,  quite  as  much  as  the  specta- 
cle we  had  on  our  way  up  and  down  the  river.  I 
could  not  help  however  realizing  how  much  a  few 
years  had  changed  the  general  aspect  of  the  Sweet 
Waters  of  Asia.  Before  my  departure  it  used  to 
be  the  smartest  place  to  go  to  during  the  good 
season  on  Friday  and  Sunday  afternoons.  You 
would  meet  all  your  friends  there  and  the  place 
used  to  be  congested  with  the  most  graceful 
"caiks"  and  rowboats  of  the  Bosphorus. 

On  Sunday  we  went  to  tea  at  the  house  of 
Mahmoud  Pasha.  It  was  a  big  affair,  almost 
an  official  reception,  as  are  all  entertainments 
given  by  the  family  of  Mahmoud  Pasha.  This 
family  is  what  might  be  called  another  great  and 
old  Turkish  clan.     At  present  it  is  probably  the 


80  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

most  socially  prominent  Turkish  family  of  Constan- 
tinople and  the  reason  underlying  its  social  activi- 
ties is  quite  well  known  among  the  other  Turkish 
families  who,  while  possibly  not  entirely  approv- 
ing them,  hold  the  family  of  Mahmoud  Pasha  in 
great  respect  for  the  utterly  unselfish  manner  in 
which  all  its  members  live  up  to  their,  convictions. 
Its  social  activities  are  looked  upon  as  having  a 
political  reason  or  significance.  In  the  first  place 
the  family  was  one  of  the  first  and  bitterest  ene- 
mies of  the  Committee  of  Union  and  Progress 
which,  after  engineering  most  marvellously  the 
Turkish  Revolution,  had  instituted  a  most  objec- 
tionable sort  of  plural  dictatorship  conducted  by 
its  own  members.  Mahmoud  Pasha's  family  who, 
like  all  the  other  old  Turkish  families,  did  not 
approve  of  this  dictatorship  of  the  few,  became 
very  active  in  the  Liberal  Party  organized  in  op- 
position to  the  Committee.  So  far,  so  good!  But 
with  the  extreme  enthusiasm  which  is  a  character- 
istic of  all  the  family,  it  carried  on  its  war  against 
the  Committee  by  taking  a  firm  and  active  stand 
against  any  and  all  of  its  policies.  It  fought  the 
Committee  on  every  ground,  not  so  much  because 
it  was  opposed  in  principle  to  this  or  that  other 
policy  but  just  because  this  or  that  other  policy 
emanated  from  the  Committee.  For  this  purpose 
it  joined  hands  with  every  party  that  was  formed 
against  the  Committee.  It  kept  up  this  war  for 
years  and  years  and  one  of  its  members — a  most 


LIFE  ON  THE  BOSPHORUS  81 

brilliant  specimen  of  young  Turkish  manhood — 
sacrificed  his  life  on  the  altar  of  his  convictions 
during  this  long-drawn  feud.  It  was  quite  natural 
that  when  the  Committee  embraced  a  pro-German 
policy  Mahmoud  Pasha's  family  would  automati- 
cally become  anti-Germans.  But  instead  of  being 
satisfied  with  fighting  this  nefarious  pro-German 
policy  by  an  exclusive  pro-Turkish  policy — as  was 
done  by  most  of  the  other  prominent  Turkish 
families — Mahmoud  Pasha's  family  had  to  go 
one  better  and  ever  since  the  armistice  has  ac- 
tively embraced  a  pro-British  policy.  Therefore, 
it  feels  that  it  can  perfectly  well  entertain  and 
lead  a  social  life  even  under  the  present  conditions 
in  Constantinople.  The  second  reason  which 
moves  this  family  to  participate  so  actively  in  the 
social  life  of  Constantinople  is  its  belief  that  after 
all  social  life  in  the  Turkish  capital  should  be 
led  by  the  Turks  themselves.  And  rather  than 
abandon  the  functions  of  society  leaders  to  some 
foreigners,  or  worse  still  to  some  Greeks,  Arme- 
nians or  Levantines,  the  family  makes  every  sacri- 
fice needed  to  hold  and  prolong  its  leadership. 
Therefore  it  gives  large  entertainments  and  weekly 
teas  amounting  to  real  functions. 

The  Sunday  we  called  on  them  the  immense 
rooms  of  their  magnificent  house  were  crowded 
to  full  capacity.  Foreign  officers  of  high  rank 
in  resplendent  uniforms,  members  of  the  different 
high  commissions  and  distinguished  visitors  of  all 


82  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

nations  were  elbowing  each  other  and  alas!  also 
quite  a  few  Levantine,  Greek  and  Armenian  busi- 
ness men  whose  standing  in  the  business  com- 
munity had  forcibly  made  a  place  for  them  in 
this  cosmopolitan  clique  of  Constantinople.  Of 
course  the  crowd  here  was  not  representative  of 
Turkish  society,  but  rather  of  the  cosmopolitan 
society  that  one  meets  in  every  principal  center  of 
Europe.  Only  a  very  few  Turks  were  present, 
mostly  old  friends  of  the  family  who  had  come 
more  with  a  desire  to  show  their  esteem  and 
respect  for  the  charming  hostesses  than  mixing 
with  the  international  crowd  they  were  sure  to 
meet  there.  The  three  daughters  of  the  family 
were  doing  the  honours  with  a  tact  and  courtesy 
only  possible  in  scions  of  old  families  whose  breed- 
ing in  etiquette  has  extended  to  so  many  gen- 
erations that  it  has  finally  become  second  nature. 
They  were  assisted  in  their  duties  by  two  grand- 
daughters of  Mahmoud  Pasha,  two  young  Turk- 
ish debutantes,  who  were  so  earnestly  endeavour- 
ing to  overcome  their  natural  shyness  and  act  like 
their  elders  that  their  charming  awkwardness 
was  really  delightful  to  watch.  It  amused  my 
wife  greatly  to  make  a  mental  comparison  between 
this  refreshing  shyness  of  the  Turkish  debutantes 
and  the  self-confidence  and  forwardness  of  their 
American  sisters.  To  this  day  I  don't  know  which 
of  the  two  schools  my  wife  really  approved  of! 
Of  course  the  brothers  and  husbands  of  our 


LIFE  ON  THE  BOSPHORUS  83 

hostesses  were  also  there,  circulating  from  group 
to  group  and  introducing  the  guests  to  each  other. 
And  to  me  the  most  humorous  note  of  the  whole 
afternoon  was  given  when  the  husband  of  one 
of  our  hostesses — a  middle-aged  gentleman,  very 
serious  and  very  widely  learned — confided  to  me 
that  for  him  entertainments  and  social  functions 
of  this  kind  were  terrible  bores  but  that  he  had 
to  go  through  with  them  just  to  please  his  wife. 
Husbands  are  the  same  all  over  the  world!  .  .  . 
As  I  did  not  contradict  him  he  took  me  in  the 
quietest  corner  we  could  find  and  we  had  a  long 
and  interesting  talk  on  subjects  which  took  us  far 
away  from  our  surroundings. 

Nevertheless  I  could  not  help  but  agree  entirely 
with  my  wife  when  she  told  us,  on  our  return  to 
Emirghian,  that  she  had  found  the  whole  thing 
"somewhat  too  stiff,"  and  I  believe  Madame  Ismet 
Bey  was  also  of  our  opinion  and  felt  that  we  were 
sincere  when  we  told  her  that  we  much  preferred 
her  own  small  at-homes  and  the  unpretentious 
little  parties  to  which  she  had  taken  us  on  the 
previous  days. 

I  must  say  that  we  met  most  interesting  and 
charming  people  at  all  these  small  parties.  It  is 
of  course  easier  to  get  to  know  people  when 
you  meet  them  a  few  at  a  time  than  when  you 
meet  them  in  a  big  gathering.  Madame  Ismet 
Bey's  friends  and  neighbours  were  exceptionally 
interesting   people.      During   our    stay   in   Emir- 


84  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

ghian  we  met  for  instance  Ihsan  Pasha,  the 
Turkish  general  who,  being  taken  prisoner  by  the 
Russians  during  the  war,  and  having  refused  to 
give  his  word  of  honour  that  he  would  not  attempt 
to  escape,  was  exiled  to  the  innermost  part  of 
Siberia.  He  told  us  in  the  most  vivid  manner 
how  he  ran  away  from  his  captors  in  the  middle 
of  a  stormy  night,  disguised  as  a  peasant;  how, 
for  three  long  months  he  had  to  walk — hunted 
and  tracked  by  the  Cossacks  and  travelling  only 
by  night — to  reach  the  Chinese  border;  how  he 
arrived,  half-starved  and  completely  exhausted  in 
Mukden,  in  Mandchouria,  where  a  community  of 
rich  Chinese  Moslems  gave  him  hospitality  and, 
after  he  had  recovered  from  his  three  months' 
walk  across  the  steppes  of  Siberia,  gave  him 
money  to  continue  his  trip.  He  told  us — but  with 
much  less  detail — the  difficulties  he  had  had  to 
elude  the  Allied  Secret  Service  which  were  on  the 
lookout  for  him  when  he  crossed  Japan  and  the 
United  States,  although  America  had  not  yet  en- 
tered the  war  at  that  time.  However,  he  did  not 
tell  us  how  he  succeeded  in  crossing  the  Atlantic 
despite  the  severe  surveillance  of  England  and  how 
he  succeeded  in  running  the  Allied  blockade  of 
Turkey  and  popped  out  one  day  in  Constantinople 
after  every  one  had  entirely  given  up  hope  of  ever 
seeing  him  alive  again.  Under  the  most  difficult 
and  trying  circumstances  he  had  thus  succeeded 
in  getting  over  seemingly  unsurmountable  obsta- 


LIFE  ON  THE  BOSPHORUS  85 

cles  and  accomplishing  in  war  time,  tracked  by 
enemies  on  all  sides,  a  complete  loop  around  the 
world  in  less  than  ten  months.  We  could  not 
help  thinking  how  terrible  those  long  months 
must  have  been  for  his  wife,  a  charming  young 
lady,  who  seemed  now  to  have  forgotten  all  the 
horror  of  these  interminable  weeks  of  suspense 
and  who  confided  to  us  that  she  had  never  given 
up  hope  as  she  had  an  entire  trust  in  the  ability 
of  her  husband  and  an  immovable  faith  in  God. 
She  said  that  she  had  passed  most  of  her  time 
in  prayer. 

We  also  met  in  Emirghian  Captain  Hassan 
Bey  and  his  wife  who  lived  with  her  family  in 
a  beautiful  villa  on  the  hills  of  Bebek,  but  a 
villa  in  the  old  style,  in  complete  harmony  with 
the  surroundings  and  nestling  in  a  park  of  old 
trees  which  did  not,  however  shut  out  the  gorge- 
ous view  of  the  Bosphorus.  From  the  top  of  these 
hills  the  Bosphorus  looks  more  like  a  chain 
of  small  lakes  than  like  a  continuous  waterway, 
the  sinuous  capes  of  both  continents  cutting  the 
iview  of  the  water  in  different  places.  It  is  like 
looking  at  the  lakes  of  Switzerland  from  the  peak 
of  a  mountain,  only  one  is  much  nearer  the  water 
and  the  panorama  has  no  sharp  or  rugged  out- 
lines but  presents  a  continuous  aspect  of  smoothly 
rounded  hills,  covered  with  forests,  with  mosques 
here  and  there,  and  with  little  patches  of  blue 
water.    On  Fridays  all  the  ships,  barges  and  row- 


86  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

boats  and  all  the  houses  owned  by  the  Turks  are 
adorned  with  Turkish  flags,  red  with  the  white 
crescent  and  star,  fluttering  in  the  wind  and  it 
gives  to  the  country  a  cheerful  and  gay  aspect 
which  reminds  you  at  a  distance  of  a  gorgeous 
field  of  poppies. 

Living  with  Madame  Hassan  Bey  was  her 
young  sisters,  a  Turkish  sub-debutante,  but  some- 
what less  shy  than  the  granddaughters  of  Mah- 
moud  Pasha,  as  she  is  a  student  of  the  American 
College  for  Girls.  In  the  course  of  time  it  be- 
came one  of  our  greatest  pleasures  to  call  on 
them  at  Bebek,  where  they  give  once  in  a  while  a 
small  informal  tea.  They  live  there  all  the  year 
round  as  it  is  at  an  easy  distance  from  the  city. 


VI 

STAMBOUE 

AT  last  we  settled  in  Stamboul.  It  took  us  a 
long  time  to  arrange  everything  as  we 
wanted,  as  it  is  hard  to  get  upholsterers,  carpet 
men  and  all  the  rest  to  do  their  work  properly 
and  rapidly  here  in  Constantinople.  Constanti- 
nople is  not  much  different  in  this  than  any  other 
city  I  know.  There  is  possibly  this  difference 
that  it  is  less  difficult  to  explain  what  you  want 
and  how  you  want  it  to  decorators  who,  like  those 
in  western  Europe  or  in  America,  have  already 
had  experience  in  putting  up  a  modern  home, 
than  to  those  in  Constantinople  who  have  had  none 
or  very  little  experience  in  this  line.  But  any- 
how there  is  always  a  way  to  get  things  done  by 
working  people,  and  the  Turkish  workingmen 
respond  to  good  treatment  in  a  most  willing  man- 
ner: they  are  anxious  to  learn  and  have  much 
aptitude  for  learning. 

As  we  had  foreseen  the  hard  work  we  had  ahead 
of  us,  we  took  the  precaution  of  taking  possession 
of  the  house  only  after  we  had  secured  the  serv- 
ants we  needed  so  that  we  might  count  on  their 
help.    As  far  as  servants  are  concerned  the  Turks 

87 


88  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

have  surely  solved  this  problem  by  adapting  to 
it  the  same  kind  of  tradition  which  they  maintain 
so  jealously  in  their  family  relations.  I  mean  to 
say  that  it  is  the  custom  for  generations  of  serv- 
ants to  serve  the  same  family  of  masters,  so  that 
as  a  rule  servants  and  masters  are  so  attached  to 
each  other  that  they  never  think  of  parting. 
Whenever  one  needs  or  desires  a  servant  all  one 
has  to  do  is  to  look  up  some  of  the  old  servants 
of  the  family  who  are  sure  to  find  a  son,  a 
daughter,  a  niece  or  a  cousin  of  theirs  who  is 
only  too  glad  to  perpetuate  the  traditions  of  his 
or  her  family  by  serving  the  family  of  its  old 
masters.  We,  therefore,  did  not  have  any  diffi- 
culty in  securing  ours,  as  we  took  as  valet  a 
young  man  who  was  born  in  my  father's  house 
where  his  father  had  been  employed  for  over 
thirty  years,  and  our  cook  was  the  daughter  of 
my  mother's  nurse.  She  also  helped  the  maid  in 
keeping  the  house  in  order.  In  this  way  we 
could  at  any  time  leave  home  in  peace  as  we  were 
confident  that  our  people  would  look  after  our 
interests,  even  if  we  were  absent,  possibly  better 
than  we  could  ourselves.  And  to  this  day  we 
have  never  had  any  occasion  for  regretting  the 
trust  we  placed  in  them.  Of  course  for  these  very 
reasons  servants  in  Turkey  have  a  totally  different 
standing  from  servants  in  any  other  country.  They 
always  know  their  place,  they  never  dare  to  take 
liberties  or  to  take  the  slightest  advantage  of  their 


STAMBOUL  89 

special  standing:  it  is  not  in  their  code.  But  they 
consider  themselves,  and  are  considered  by  their 
masters,  almost  as  members  of  the  family — second 
class  members,  if  that  expression  could  be  used. 
Our  relations  with  our  own  people  were  typical  of 
these  principles  and  in  order  to  do  full  justice 
to  them  and  to  give  an  accurate  idea  of  what  I 
mean,  I  am  going  to  confess  that  during  a  period 
of  our  last  stay  in  Constantinople  I  had  to  con- 
sider seriously  the  possibility  of  closing  our  estab- 
lishment and  of  living  more  cheaply  in  some  other 
quarter.  I  therefore  notified  our  people  that  they 
would  have  to  look  for  other  positions  and  that 
I  could  only  help  them  until  they  found  some 
place  elsewhere.  They  received  the  news  with  an 
emotion  which  I  could  only  hope  to  find  in  my  own 
brothers  or  sisters,  and  left  the  room  with  tears 
in  their  eyes.  Next  day  they  asked  to  be  heard, 
the  three  together,  and  they  informed  me  that 
after  having  given  due  consideration  to  the  situa- 
tion they  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  now 
more  than  ever  they  had  the  opportunity  to 
show  their  attachment  and  devotion  to  us,  that 
now  more  than  ever  we  needed  them;  therefore 
they  had  decided  to  stay  with  us.  Do  what  I 
could  I  could  not  persuade  them  to  leave.  I 
found  them  better  paying  positions  with  some 
friends  or  relatives;  they  refused  to  go.  And  for 
three  months,  until  I  could  to  some  extent  over- 
come the  crisis  in  my  business,  they  steadily  re- 


po  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

fused  to  accept  any  pay  on  the  ground  that  if  I 
paid  them  we  would  have  to  leave  the  house,  and 
if  we  left  the  house  we  could  not  find  another 
place  where  we  could  all  live  together.  Needless  to 
say  that  such  people  cannot  be  treated  as  servants 
in  the  western  sense  of  the  word,  and  that  they 
in  turn  must  have  no  cause  of  complaint  in  regard 
to  the  treatment  they  receive  from  their  masters. 
Of  course  we  made  good  to  them  their  sacrifices 
as  soon  as  we  could,  and  naturally  they  knew 
that  we  would  do  so,  but  I  doubt  that  in  any  other 
place  in  the  world  such  real  devotion  could  be 
found  even  if  those  who  made  the  sacrifice  had 
every  reason  to  be  sure  that  they  would  eventu- 
ally be  adequately  compensated. 

Needless  to  say  that  right  from  the  beginning 
the  manner  in  which  we  treated  our  people  was 
the  friendly  manner  usual  in  Turkey.  My  wife 
adapted  herself  very  quickly  to  this  as  she  is  from 
the  South  and  I  believe  that  the  southern  states  of 
America  are  the  only  place  where  the  relations 
between  masters  and  servants  are  anything  like 
those  prevailing  in  Turkey.  Our  people  of  course 
had  each  his  own  room.  The  cook,  who  was  a 
widow,  had  with  her  her  little  daughter,  a  child 
about  three  years  old,  whom  we  took  care  of 
almost  like  our  adopted  child.  It  happens  fre- 
quently in  Turkey  that  a  child  like  this  is  taken 
with  the  mother  into  a  home,  the  mother  doing 
some   housework   and   the   child   becoming   what 


STAMBOUL  91 

is  called  in  Turkish  the  "child  of  Heaven"  of 
the  masters  of  the  house — that  is,  the  masters 
of  the  house  take  care  of  the  child,  bringing 
it  up  and  educating  it  just  as  if  it  were  their 
own,  but  without,  however,  adopting  it  legally. 
In  two  years  we  hope  to  put  our  own  "child  of 
Heaven"  into  the  English  School  for  Girls  which 
has  the  advantage  of  a  kindergarten  over  the 
American  School  for  Girls.  Our  people  can  go 
out  when  they  want,  but  they  never  do  it  without 
asking  us  and  they  never  come  home  a  minute 
later  than  they  say  they  will.  As  they  are  all  very 
ambitious  to  learn  and  improve  themselves  we  ask 
them  into  our  rooms  after  dinner  about  once  a 
week  and  we  talk  to  them  of  the  world  in  general 
and  of  interesting  topics  just  as  if  they  were 
friends. 

They  were  of  course  of  great  help  to  us  when 
we  were  settling  down  in  our  house  in  Stamboul. 
Ours  was  a  large  stone  house  with  nine  good-sized 
rooms,  one  on  the  ground  floor  and  four  on  each 
other  floor.  It  had  a  large  brick-covered  entrance 
hall  with  two  separate  stairways  which  in  the 
old  days  were  used,  one  as  the  Harem  stairway 
and  the  other  as  the  Selamlik  stairway,  but  of 
course  we  modernized  this  by  using  one  of  them 
for  service.  The  walls  and  ceilings  had  been  all 
replastered  and  with  the  exception  of  the  entrance 
hall  which  was  painted  in  Turkish  blue,  were  all 
calsomined  in  gray.     Of  course  we  had  electric 


92  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

light  throughout  and  a  telephone.  The  real  inno- 
vation for  Constantinople,  however,  was  that  we 
changed  the  kitchen  from  the  basement,  where 
it  generally  is  located,  to  the  first  floor,  near  the 
dining-room  where  we  had  a  regular  American 
kitchenette  built.  Then  we  had  a  shower  put  in 
the  spacious  bathroom.  So  really  the  house  is  as 
comfortable  as  possible.  As  for  the  furniture,  we 
had  mostly  some  of  the  antique  furniture  collected 
by  my  father  and  myself  in  Western  Europe,  with 
here  and  there  some  Turkish  embroideries,  old 
pieces  that  have  been  in  the  family  for  many  gen- 
erations, and  of  course  Turkish  and  Persian 
carpets.  Despite  our  western  furniture  and  some 
pictures  we  have  on  the  walls  we  endeavoured 
to  keep  throughout  the  Oriental  atmosphere  of 
the  house — not  the  kind  of  Turkish  interior  one 
sees  in  exhibitions,  adorned  with  a  lot  of  bric-a- 
brac  and  hangings,  but  the  simple  Oriental  in- 
terior. This  has  been  rather  an  easy  task  as  our 
house  is  typically  Turkish  with  large  rooms  of 
perfect  proportions  and  big  latticed  windows. 
Therefore,  by  just  placing  a  very  few  pieces  of 
furniture  in  each  room,  by  having  straight  hang- 
ings of  pale  Oriental  colours  in  the  windows,  and 
by  placing  the  few  really  valuable  Turkish  antiques 
in  the  most  prominent  place  in  each  room,  we 
have  tried  to  keep  the  Turkish  atmosphere 
which  has  so  much  charm  and  without  which  it 
would  be  sacrilegious  to  live  in  Stamboul,  espe- 


STAMBOUU  93 

daily  in  a  house  like  the  one  we  have.  Our 
friends  and  our  guests  have  told  us  that  we  have 
succeeded  in  our  endeavours  and  I  believe  this  to 
be  true,  as  an  American  lady  with  whom  we  have 
grown  to  be  very  good  friends  since;  confided  us 
that  the  first  day  she  called  on  us  bringing  with 
her  a  letter  of  introduction  from  a  mutual  friend 
she  was  struck  by  the  severe  Turkish  atmosphere 
of  our  house  and — it  being  her  first  day  in  Con- 
stantinople and  her  imagination  being  full  of  all 
the  horrid  things  she  had  heard  about  the  Turks 
in  America — she  was  rather  nervous  until  she 
met  my  wife  who  breezed  in  to  greet  her  in  a 
perfectly  American  way.  Needless  to  say  that  a 
short  while  after  she  was  laughing  with  us  at  the 
reputation  of  being  "terrible"  which  the  Turks 
have  abroad. 

Certainly  no  one  who  has  lived  in  Stamboul  can 
even  conceive  where  this  reputation  originated. 
Stamboul  is  the  Turkish  section  of  the  city 
and  is  peopled  exclusively  by  Turks.  Its  streets 
are  so  quiet,  its  crowds  are  so  calm,  that  they 
really  deserve  much  more  the  adjective  of 
"peaceful"  than  that  of  "terrible."  Anyone  who 
has  been  in  Constantinople  prefers  Stamboul  to 
any  other  section  of  the  city  with  the  possible  ex- 
ception of  some  parts  of  Nishantashe  which  are 
also  exclusively  inhabited  by  Turks  and  have 
therefore  the  same  atmosphere  of  peace  and  quiet 
one  finds  in  Stamboul. 


94  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

Stamboul  has  the  dignity  of  a  queen.  It  has 
the  same  refinement,  the  same  poise,  the  same 
nobility  that  a  great  lady  always  has  no  matter 
what  her  circumstances.  Many  of  the  houses  are 
tumbling  down.  Alas !  too  many  of  the  people  liv- 
ing there  are  shabbily  dressed — nay  even  some  of 
them  are  now  in  rags.  But  her  smallest  streets, 
her  humblest  shacks  have  an  inexpressible  dignity 
which  is  at  once  apparent.  Stamboul  is  a  thor- 
oughbred. Despite  her  misery  and  her  intense 
sufferings,  despite  all  her  ruins  and  the  poverty 
of  her  inhabitants,  Stamboul  is  a  queen.  She  has 
a  soul  of  her  own,  very  much  alive  and  very  com- 
passionate— a  soul  which  appeals  to  foreigners 
and  to  the  Turks  alike — perhaps  because  of  the 
feeling  of  love  and  compassion  which  emanates 
from  her  and  wins  for  her  the  hearts  of  Turks 
and  foreigners.  She  loves  her  children:  more 
than  thirty  thousand  families  have  in  the  last  ten 
years  seen  their  houses  destroyed  by  fire  but  some- 
how or  other  not  one  member  of  those  thirty 
thousand  families  has  remained  without  shelter. 
Stamboul  has  provided  them  with  a  roof  and  there 
they  are,  all  her  children,  somewhat  crowded  it 
is  true,  but  all  living  within  her  hospitable  walls. 
She  loves  the  foreigners  and  receives  them  with 
the  greatest  hospitality,  she  adopts  those  who  can 
understand  her  and  treats  them  even  better  than 
her  own  children:  she  has  named  two  of  her 
streets  after  Pierre  Loti  and  Claude  Farrere,  her 


STAMBOUL  95 

great  French  friends,  so  that  their  names  will 
remain  forever  alive  within  her  walls.  All  who 
come  to  her  fall  in  love  with  her,  and  my  wife  and 
myself  fell  immediately  under  her  spell:  she  is  so 
good,  so  sad,  so  peaceful ! 

Our  house  is  on  one  of  her  principal  streets, 
a  wide  avenue  which  leads  to  the  Sublime  Porte 
and  then  on  to  the  Mausoleum  of  Sultan  Mahmoud. 
The  avenue,  like  most  of  the  principal  streets  of 
Stamboul,  is  bordered  with  old  plane  trees  where 
pigeons,  and  nightingales,  have  made  their  home. 
From  our  windows  we  see  the  court  of  the  Su- 
blime Porte,  a  big  tumbled-down  building  where 
all  the  principal  government  departments  are  con- 
centrated. The  gates  of  the  Sublime  Porte  are 
night  and  day  guarded  by  Turkish  soldiers  and 
policemen,  clean-cut  young  Turks,  tanned  from 
the  sun  and  the  invigorating  air  of  their  birth- 
place in  Anatolia.  Every  hour  of  the  day  or  of 
the  night  two  of  them  tramp  before  the  gate 
opposite  our  house,  in  rain  or  in  sunshine,  in  snow 
or  in  fog.  At  the  corner  of  the  court  there  is  a 
little  mosque  built  especially  for  their  use  so 
that  they  can  go  five  times  a  day  to  prayer.  Five 
times  a  day  the  "muezzin"  appears  atop  the  slen- 
der minaret  and  in  his  soulful  chant  calls  the 
soldiers  and  the  neighbourhood  to  prayer.  And 
they  all  pray:  when  the  sun  rises  and  when  it 
goes  down,  in  the  middle  of  the  day,  in  the 
middle   of   the   afternoon   and   in   the   middle   of 


96  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

the  night.  Five  times  a  day  they  give  thanks 
to  the  Almighty,  fervently  confirm  their  faith  that 
there  is  no  god  but  God,  and  beg  Him  to  assist 
them  in  following  the  straight  path,  the  path  to 
salvation.  Can  people  of  this  kind  be  as  black  as 
they  are  represented  abroad?  Is  it  not  monstrous 
to  accuse  them  of  so  many  dark  crim.es?  Is  it 
not  criminal  to  even  give  credence — without  in- 
vestigating— to  all  of  the  deeds  they  are  repre- 
sented as  doing  by  people  who  must  have  an  ul- 
terior motive?  For  my  part  I  can't  believe  these 
people  capable  of  even  hurting  a  fly  or  of  killing 
a  wolf,  unless  it  be  in  self-defense.  And  I  can 
truthfully  say  that  my  belief  is  not  based  on  senti- 
mental reasons  or  influenced  by  patriotic  motives. 
I  know  the  people,  I  have  watched  them  for  days 
and  months  from  our  windows  in  Stamboul,  these 
Turkish  peasant  soldiers  of  Anatolia;  I  have  read 
in  their  eyes  only  resignation,  passivity,  and  love. 
I  have  seen  how  they  treat  little  children,  how 
they  take  care  of  poor  stray  dogs.  No,  they  can- 
not possibly  harm  anyone  unless  it  be  in  self- 
defense. 

From  the  upper  story  of  our  house  we  can  see 
the  entrance  of  the  Bosphorus,  that  enchanting 
piece  of  blue  water  which  lures  all  that  have  seen 
it  once.  We  see  it  through  the  branches  of  trees, 
between  the  Sublime  Porte  and  a  brick  building 
on  the  left,  the  headquarters  of  some  newspaper. 
Towering  above  it  are  the  houses  of  Galata  and 


STAMBOUL  97 

Pera  forming  an  amphitheatre  much  more  pleasing 
to  the  eye  at  a  distance  than  from  nearby.  We 
also  see  the  dark-green  trees  of  the  park  of  the  Old 
Seraglio,  where  a  few  slender  towers,  a  few 
slanting  gray  roofs  mark  the  position  of  its  im- 
perial buildings.  Truly  our  house  is  situated  in 
the  heart  of  Stamboul,  that  is  why  we  can  feel  it 
throbbing  so  plainly,  that  is  why  we  can  learn  to 
know  her  so  well. 

The  famous  Santa  Sophia,  the  Mosque  of  Sultan 
Ahmed  with  its  six  slender  minarets,  the  Square 
of  the  Hippodrome,  Where  the  decadent  emperors 
of  Byzance.held  horse  races  nearly  six  centuries 
ago,  even  the  famous  bazaars  are  all  within  our 
range,  almost  within  view  of  our  house.  And 
we  pass  our  first  weeks  after  we  have  settled  in 
visiting  all  these  places,  not  as  tourists,  but  for 
the  purpose  of  knowing  them,  of  communing  with 
them  so  that  we  will  feel  that  we  have  become  one 
with  our  surroundings.  We  go  time  and  again 
to  the  Old  Seraglio,  whose  nooks  and  corners  be- 
come as  familiar  to  us  as  if  we  had  lived  there, 
the  Old  Seraglio  whose  every  building,  every 
kiosk,  every  room  is  still  alive  with  the  history  of 
Turkey's  past  grandeur,  whose  garden  still  glows 
with  the  life  of  all  the  great  Sultans  and  of  their 
courtiers  who  lived  and  died  there.  From  its  outer 
court  with  its  long  alley  of  tall  cypresses  and  pop- 
lars gently  swaying  to  the  breeze  as  if  bewailing 
past   splendours,    from    its    outer    Council    Room 


98  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

where  generations  of  grave  Pashas  robed  in  sable 
furs  covered  with  silk  brocades  and  with  be- 
jeweled  turbans  have  discussed  affairs  of  State 
and  international  policies  while  powerful  Sultans 
were  listening  from  behind  the  golden  lattices 
of  a  small  balcony,  from  the  informal  audience 
room  from  which  a  Sultan  chased  the  Am- 
bassador of  Louis  XIV,  King  of  France,  for  hav- 
ing dared  to  sit  in  his  presence,  to  the  court  where 
another  Sultan  was  murdered  by  his  Janissaries, 
to  the  Kiosk  of  the  Lilacs  to  the  laboratory  where 
learned  doctors  prepared  drugs  for  their  august 
masters,  to  the  very  trunk  of  the  old  plane  tree 
in  the  shade  of  which  a  resentful  Sultan  signed 
the  decree  condemning  to  death  one  of  his  gen- 
erals who  had  failed  to  capture  Vienna,  and  to 
the  marble  terrace  of  the  Badgad  kiosk  where 
a  poet  Sultan  improvised  his  immortal  verses 
to  his  Sultana,  the  place  seems  to  be  full  of 
living  shadows  and  remembrances.  It  seems  as  if 
it  were  only  asleep  and  semi-consciously  waiting  a 
signal  to  people  again  all  its  buildings  and  its  gar- 
dens with  Princes  and  soldiers  continuing  their  in- 
terrupted earthly  existence. 

We  go  time  and  again  to  all  the  different 
mosques  of  the  neighbourhood,  places  renowned  the 
world  over  for  their  architecture  and  which  are 
so  impregnated  by  the  prayers  Which  generations 
of  faithful  believers  have  made  within  their  walls 
five  times  a  day  for  centuries  and  centuries,  that 


STAMBOUL  99 

they  vibrate  with  spirituality  and  force  you  to 
meditation — not  a  sad  meditation  with  visions  of 
everlasting  fires  to  expiate  earthly  sins,  but  en- 
couraging meditation  which  whispers  into  your 
ears  that  God  who  has  created  such  beautiful  sur- 
roundings for  a  city  like  Constantinople,  God  who 
has  given  the  power  to  human  beings  to  conceive 
and  construct  such  cheerful  and  elevating  temples 
of  worship  and  prayer  cannot  and  will  not  create 
another  life  where  the  miseries  of  this  one  are 
continued  and  multiplied  eternally.  A  meditation 
which  makes  you  realize  that  if  winter  comes, 
spring  cannot  be  far  behind! 

Then  again  we  go  often  to  the  Bazaars,  not 
necessarily  to  hunt  for  antiques  or  to  purchase 
things,  but  to  get  acquainted  with  the  little  old 
shopkeepers,  the  second-hand  booksellers  with 
White  beards  and  turbans,  sitting  placidly  in  their 
small  stores  surrounded  by  books — hand-written 
books  in  Turkish,  Arabic  or  Persian,  illuminated 
with  delicate  multi-hued  designs  and  covered  with 
priceless  old  leather  bindings;  little  old  shop- 
keepers who  receive  you  as  a  guest  and  as  a 
friend,  offer  you  tea  and  talk  with  you  for  hours 
on  such  and  such  a  book,  this  or  the  other  school 
of  philosophy,  this  or  the  other  Arabic,  Persian 
or  Turkish  writer — without  even  thinking  of  sell- 
ing you  a  book.  In  our  visits  to  the  Bazaars  we 
carefully  avoid  the  Jew,  Armenian  or  Greek  an- 
tique dealers  hunting  in  the  covered  streets  of  the 


ioo  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

place  for  foreigners  and  other  easy  prey.  After 
a  visit  or  two  we  are  known  even  by  them  and  we 
can  freely  wander  in  the  streets  without  being  mo- 
lested by  their  employees  who  try  to  induce  stran- 
gers to  visit  their  shops.  We  make  friends  with  two 
or  three  dealers  in  the  Bedesten,  the  central  hall 
of  the  Bazaars,  a  huge  circular  place  covered  with 
a  round  dome  where  stands  are  like  wide  shelves 
and  where  shopkeepers  sit  cross-legged  sur- 
rounded by  genuine  works  of  art,  jewels  and 
furniture  piled  in  a  beautiful  disorder  one  on 
top  of  the  other.  We  make  friends  with  a  few  of 
these  vendors — old  men  who  have  kept  their  stands 
since  their  early  youth,  people  who  knew  my 
father,  or  an  uncle  or  a  cousin  of  mine,  who  adopt 
us  as  if  we  were  one  of  them.  Thereafter  we  have 
no  more  need  of  worrying;  if  we  want  to  pur- 
chase something  we  have  only  to  tell  them  and 
they  will  get  it  for  us  if  it  exists  in  Stamboul,  if 
we  see  something  that  we  want  in  one  of  the  an- 
tique stores  and  are  afraid  that  it  is  not  genuine 
or  that  the  storekeeper  will  ask  us  a  price  above 
its  real  value,  we  just  have  to  speak  of  it  to  one 
of  our  friends  and  he  will  expertise  it  for  us  and 
purchase  it  for  us  at  its  real  value.  You  see  we 
are  related  to  the  late  Reshad  Bey — may  the 
Mercy  of  God  be  on  his  soul — and  all  these  old 
merchants  were  friends  of  his,  and  he  had  through 
their  offices  and  with  their  cooperation  made  the 
most  precious  collection  of  Turkish  antiquities  that 


STAMBOUL  101 

exists  to  this  day  in  Constantinople.  And  for  the 
peace  of  Reshad  Bey's  soul,  for  friendship  to  him, 
these  good  old  people  want  to  help  us  whenever 
they  can. 

Thus  we  have  gradually  entered  into  the  inner 
life  of  Stamboul  and  identified  ourselves  with  it. 
And  we  love  it  the  more  for  the  way  it  has  treated 
us.  But  who  would  not?  People  in  Stamboul  are 
so  different  from  those  in  Pera.  Even  the  ordi- 
nary storekeepers,  the  butcher,  the  grocer  and  the 
candlestick  maker  are  honest  and  courteous  here, 
whereas  honesty  and  politeness  are  as  rare  in  Pera 
as  the  mythical  stone  of  the  Alchemists.  The 
Levantines,  Greeks  and  Armenians  of  Pera  think 
they  have  found  a  speedier  and  better  way  to 
change  everything  they  touch  into  gold,  and  judg- 
ing by  their  prosperity  their  system  may  be  ef- 
ficient in  so  far  as  it  secures  gains.  But  the 
Turks  in  Stamboul  do  not  worry  about  material 
gains.  All  they  want  is  peace  and  tranquillity. 
And  how  can  you  secure  peace  with  your  neigh- 
bours, how  can  you  secure  the  tranquillity  of  your 
own  mind  if  you  are  not  courteous  to  every  one 
and  if  you  are  not  honest? 

So  it  is  a  real  pleasure  to  go  shopping  in  Stam- 
boul and  we  absolutely  avoid  Pera  when  we  want 
or  need  anything.  One  can  find  everything  in 
Stamboul  when  one  knows  where  to  look  for  it. 
We  have  found  even  English  and  American  chintz 
for  the  curtains  of  our  bedrooms  and  at  half  the 


102  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

price  we  would  have  to  pay  for  them  in  Pera.  The 
little  cabinet  maker  around  the  corner  has  restored 
one  of  our  Chippendale  chairs,  which  was  broken 
on  its  way  from  America,  so  well  that  the  repairs 
cannot  be  detected  even  after  a  very  close  scru- 
tiny. And  the  funny  part  of  it  is  that  he  never 
had  seen  a  Chippendale  chair  before  in  his  life. 
Right  near  our  house  is  a  shoe-store.  I  realized 
one  Sunday  morning  that  I  had  forgotten  to  cash 
a  cheque  the  previous  day  and  as  the  banks  were 
closed  and  cheques  are  very  little  used  in  Turkey, 
my  wife  and  I  were  wishing  we  were  in  America 
where  we  could  have  cashed  one  at  a  hotel,  a  club 
or  even  a  store  where  we  were  known.  I  decided 
to  take  a  chance  and  send  our  man  with  a  cheque 
for  ten  Turkish  pounds  to  the  shoe-store  to  ask 
if  they  would  cash  it  for  me.  A  few  minutes  later 
our  man  came  back  with  the  cheque — and  with 
the  ten  pounds,  the  storekeeper  having  absolutely 
refused  to  accept  the  cheque  on  the  grounds  that 
he  had  entire  confidence  in  us,  that  he  was  sure  we 
would  pay  him  back  next  day  or  the  day  after,  and 
that  his  retaining  the  cheque  would  be  tantamount 
to  mistrusting  us.  I  could  not  help  thinking  that 
it  takes  an  honest  man  to  have  confidence  in  the 
honesty  of  some  one  else.  And  one  has  all  the 
time  such  proofs  of  honesty  when  one  deals  with 
the  small  Turkish  traders.  I  must  admit  however 
that  they  have  two  standards  of  principles  when  it 
comes  to  naming  a  price  for  their  merchandise  or 


STAMBOUL  103 

for  their  services :  the  first  standard  which  applies 
to  their  steady  customers  and  to  Turks  exclusively 
and  which  is  one  of  strict  honesty  satisfied  with 
a  very  small  margin  of  legitimate  gain — the  steady 
customers  and  the  Turks  know  that  this  means 
one  price  only  and  do  not  begrudge  them  their 
small  profits  or  try  to  beat  them  down  by  bar- 
gaining— the  other  standard  is  the  one  they  apply 
in  their  dealings  with  foreigners  or  with  a  casual 
client,  it  consists  in  asking  for  a  much  larger 
profit,  leaving  enough  margin  to  indulge  in  bar- 
gaining. I  must  also  add  in  the  defense  of  the 
small  Turkish  dealer  that  he  is  obliged  to  have 
recourse  to  this  second  standard  especially  in 
dealing  with  foreigners,  purely  and  simply  in 
self-defense.  I  have  still  to  find  a  foreigner  who 
will  step  into  a  shop  in  Turkey  and  pay  without 
haggling  over  the  price  first  asked  by  the  mer- 
chant. This  is  always  a  source  of  wonderment 
to  me  as  very  often  the  foreigner  who  begrudges 
a  paltry  ten  per  cent  profit  to  the  Turkish  mer- 
chant is  the  same  one  who  pays  without  the  slight- 
est protest  twenty-five  or  fifty  per  cent  profit  in 
his  own  town  to  a  retailer  who  has  had  the  good 
sense  to  advertise  himself  as  having  only  one 
price  for  his  goods. 

Anyhow,  in  Stamboul  we  never  have  to  com- 
plain of  the  manner  in  which  we  are  treated 
by  our  suppliers,  and  when  we  deal  with  them  we 
feel  that  we  have  an  individuality  of  our  own  and 


104  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

are  not  just  a  name  or  a  number  which  has  to  be 
served.  We  are  friends  who  have  to  be  pleased. 
That  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  we  love  Stamboul 
so  much,  and  why  Stamboul  is  loved  by  all  who 
have  lived  there.  One  becomes  identified  with  the 
quarter  one  lives  in,  one  becomes  part  of  it,  one 
gets  to  know  and  to  be  known  at  least  by  sight 
by  every  one  who  lives  in  the  same  quarter:  the 
policemen  on  the  beat,  the  night  watchman,  the 
storekeepers,  the  neighbours — all  know  each  other 
and  take  a  personal  interest  in  helping  each  other. 
There  is  a  spirit  of  friendship,  an  "esprit  de  corps" 
among  all  members  of  the  same  community. 

The  community  in  which  we  live  is  possibly 
exceptional  in  one  respect  and  that  is  that  it  is 
the  center  not  only  of  Government  circles,  but  also 
of  publicists  and  doctors.  Stamboul  even  in  its 
living  quarters  is  very  markedly  divided  into  sec- 
tions where  people  of  a  certain  trade,  a  certain 
education  or  of  a  certain  walk  in  life  live  in  com- 
munities distinct  from  each  other.  Ours  is  an 
intellectual  community,  all  the  big  doctors,  physi- 
cians and  surgeons  and  all  the  writers,  publicists 
and  newspapermen  live  here,  while  the  people  of 
the  Government  come  every  day  to  the  Sublime 
Porte  opposite  our  house.  The  result  is  that  after 
a  short  while  we  have  a  circle  of  neighbours  and 
friends  who  make  it  a  practise  to  drop  in  in- 
formally once  in  a  while  to  visit  with  us.  There 
are  no  official  visitors,  but  friends  who  come  in  to 


STAMBOUL  105 

pass  away  the  time  in  case  you  have  nothing  bet- 
ter to  do.  And  the  informality  is  such  that  they 
do  not  feel  hurt  if  you  cannot  receive  them.  If 
by  any  chance  you  have  some  formal  party  going 
on,  they  themselves  do  not  desire  to  stay.  So  it  is 
perfectly  charming  and  agreeable.  So  much  the 
more  since  these  people  are  all  interesting  people: 
men  and  women  who  know  things  and  who 
are  doing  things  and  who  shun  small  talk  or 
gossip.  It  is  a  remarkable  thing  how  little  gos- 
sip there  is  in  these  cliques  of  Stamboul.  And 
this  is  a  relief  and  a  great  difference  from 
the  cliques  of  Pera.  True,  the  people  here  are 
not  social  people  in  the  foreign  sense  of  the  word: 
they  are  people  who  do  things  and  who  desire  to 
exchange  ideas,  constructive  and  profitable  ideas. 
They  generally  come  in  late  in  the  afternoon, 
when  the  Sublime  Porte  is  closing.  They  have  to 
pass  before  our  house,  and  every  once  in  a  while 
some  one  of  our  friends  stops  in  at  tea  time. 
After  dinner  we  receive  the  visits  of  our  immedi- 
ate neighbours,  doctors  and  publicists,  if  we  have 
nothing  else  to  do  or  if  we  do  not  ourselves  call 
on  some  neighbours.  Of  course  these  calls  are 
not  an  every-day  occurrence,  they  happen  about 
two  or  three  times  a  week  and  help  to  pass  the 
time  in  a  most  pleasant  way,  as  we  have  on  our 
list  of  steady  callers  people  interested  in  different 
lines,  philosophic  and  religious  thoughts  as  well 
as  scientific  and  political  thoughts. 


106  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

So  we  are  now  finally  settled  and  are  leading  a 
very  quiet,  interesting  life,  right  in  the  midst  of 
our  Stamboul,  right  among  the  Turks;  not  any 
more  the  Stamboul  and  the  Turks  of  Pierre  Loti 
or  of  Claude  Farrere,  but  a  Stamboul  which  has 
suffered  and  is  suffering  much,  a  Stamboul  which 
is  thinking  and  feeling  deeply,  and  among  Turks 
who  are  passing  through  a  transition  period  of 
passive  development — chrysalises  of  the  Near  East 
which  may  soon  develop  into  sturdy  butterflies 
with  large  wings  and  whose  one  ambition  is  to 
carry  their  race,  their  country  and  their  associates 
as  high  as  the  ideals  towards  which  their  construc- 
tive imagination  is  now  soaring. 


VII 
BUSINESS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

VfOW  that  we  have  a  house  which  we  can  call 
our  home  we  are  able  to  lead  an  organised 
life.  Our  daily  routine  varies  little  but  it  certainly 
is  a  relief  to  settle  down  and  take  things  easily 
after  having  lived  like  gypsies  for  so  many  months. 
I  go  to  my  office  every  morning — everybody  works 
or  at  least  tries  to  work  now  in  Constantinople. 
I  had  good  luck  in  finding  proper  quarters  for 
the  office  at  a  short  distance  from  home  so  that 
it  does  not  take  more  than  ten  minutes'  walk  to 
go  to  work  and  I  can  come  back  every  day  to 
lunch.  In  the  mornings  my  wife  is  busy  with 
the  thousand  and  one  duties  so  easily  devised  by 
any  woman  who  takes  a  real  interest  in  her  home 
and  when  I  come  to  lunch  by  noon  everything  is 
ready  for  a  quiet  meal  "en  tete-a-tete,"  followed 
by  twenty  minutes  or  half  an  hour  of  restful  con- 
versation. It  is  so  nice  to  cut  the  day  with  a 
short  recreation  of  this  kind,  well  earned  by  both 
of  us.  It  makes  one  more  alive  for  the  work  of 
the  afternoon.  And  for  the  sake  of  having  this 
short  recreation  we  very  seldom  ask  any  one  to 
lunch.     However,  ours  is  a  Turkish  house  and  it 

always  remains  open  to  guests,  and  we  are  ready 

107 


108  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

to  entertain  any  one  who  drops  in  to  share  our 
meal.  This  is  the  custom,  but  every  one  is  brought 
up  not  to  take  undue  advantage  of  the  privilege, 
so  friends  or  relations  do  not  drop  in  at  lunch 
time  more  often  than  once  in  a  great  while. 

When  I  again  leave  my  wife  for  the  office  in  the 
afternoon  she  generally  sees  some  friends  or  goes 
out  shopping,  but  she  is  always  at  home  when  I 
return  in  the  evenings  at  half-past  five  or  six.  We 
work  rather  late  in  the  offices  here. 

Business  life  in  Constantinople  is  a  rather  exact- 
ing thing  nowadays.  It  is  unquestionably  most  in- 
teresting, but  there  is  such  competition,  such  a 
scramble  for  work  that  one  has  to  hustle  to  hold 
one's  own.  Unfortunately  we  live  in  a  century  of 
commercialism  and  trade,  and  no  matter  where  one 
is  one  has  to  take  an  active  part  in  the  universal 
struggle  for  life.  The  unfortunates  who  have  to 
earn  a  living  are  the  actors  in  this  struggle  and 
have  to  devote  their  days,  their  years,  their  whole 
life  to  business,  no  matter  if  they  are  in  America 
or  in  England,  in  Italy  or  in  France,  in  Turkey 
or  in  China.  In  some  countries  many  go  in  busi- 
ness for  a  pastime.  But  in  others — as  in  Turkey 
— most  of  those  who  are  in  business  have  entered 
it  only  because  they  had  to.  They  would  much 
prefer,  if  they  could  afford  it,  to  pass  their  time 
in  the  pursuit  of  some  more  elevating  and  morally 
profitable  occupation.  Dire  necessity  has  com- 
pelled practically  every  one  now  in  business  in  Tur- 


BUSINESS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE  109 

key  to  take  it  up,  men,  women  and  children.  I  do 
not  think  that  deep  in  their  hearts  the  Turks  really 
relish  this,  but  they  have  a  sort  of  a  feeling  that  as 
long  as  everybody  else  is  doing  it,  as  long  as  this 
is  a  century  where  only  material  progress  counts, 
as  long  as  there  is  an  urgent  necessity  to  earn 
money,  well  they  have  to  try  to  make  the  best 
of  it.  They  have  come  to  this  conclusion  only  in 
recent  years,  and  I  believe  that  this  is  the  only 
real  good  that  the  war  has  done  to  Turkey  and 
the  Turks.  When  I  left  Constantinople  for  Amer- 
ica, ten  or  twelve  years  ago,  there  were  very  few 
Turks  in  business.  Commerce,  finance  and  indus- 
try was,  and  had  been  for  centuries,  the  exclusive 
realm  of  the  non-Turkish  elements  of  the  empire. 
Perhaps  this  explains  the  reason  why  Turkey  and 
the  Near  East  did  not  enjoy  a  very  good  busi- 
ness reputation  in  foreign  countries — a  handicap 
which  it  will  take  some  time  still  to  overcome.  It 
will  require  years  and  years  before  foreign  busi- 
ness men  will  realize  that  trustworthy  and  reliable 
people  can  be  found  in  Turkey  to  deal  with,  now 
that  the  Turks  are  in  business — just  as  it  required 
years  and  years  for  the  Chinamen  to  change  the 
opinion  of  foreigners  on  the  risks  of  Chinese 
business.  Most  traders  who  knew  about  the  un- 
satisfactory results  obtained  in  the  past  in  Chinese 
trade  were  prejudiced  against  Chinese  business 
without  realizing  that  they  had  dealt  through 
Japanese  or  half-bred  Far  Eastern  firms.     When 


no  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

the  Chinese  entered  personally  into  international 
business  the  foreigners  gradually  lost  their  preju- 
dice but  it  took  some  time. 

The  fact  that  the  Turks  have  not  entered  into 
business  until  comparatively  recently  is  not  at  all 
due  to  laziness  or  indolence.  It  is  rather  due  to 
two  distinct  causes  which  must  be  mentioned  here 
to  render  full  justice  to  the  Turkish  race.  The 
first  is  a  moral  cause.  The  religion,  the  education 
and  the  Asiatic  origin  of  the  Turks  have  led 
them  to  look  upon  life  more  like  a  road  that  should 
be  used  to  reach  spiritual  attainments  than  like 
an  opportunity  to  obtain  material  gains.  Spiritual 
attainments  are  eternal — those  who  accumulate 
them  in  this  life  continue  their  progress  in  the 
other  with  a  useful  capital  and  with  assets  that 
really  count.  Material  gains  are  perishable  and 
those  who  accumulate  them  in  this  life  cannot 
take  them  into  the  other.  Why  should  I  therefore 
use  my  time  and  energy  to  accumulate  things 
that  will  be  useful  to  me  only  during  this  life 
which,  after  all,  is  only  an  infinitesimal  part  of 
my  eternal  existence.  Accustomed  to  think  and 
to  reason  thus  the  Turks  have  become  a  race 
indifferent  to  material  gains  and  ambitious  only  for 
spiritual  gains,  and  they  have  naturally  enough 
disdained  business.  In  fact,  they  have  for  cen- 
turies looked  down  upon  commerce  and  finance 
and  have  purposely  avoided  competing  in  these 
activities    with    the   less    spiritual   but    far    more 


BUSINESS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE  in 

materialistic  non-Turkish  elements  of  the  Near 
East. 

The  second  cause  is  political  or  historical.  At 
the  time  of  the  conquest  of  Constantinople  nearly 
six  centuries  ago,  and  when  for  the  first  time 
Turkey  acquired — to  her  misfortune — a  large  non- 
Turkish  population,  Sultan  Mehemet  IV.  desired 
to  give  a  proof  of  his  magnanimity  and,  in  a  spirit 
of  justice,  not  only  recognised  the  entire  freedom 
of  religion  of  the  newly  subjected  non-Turkish 
races,  but  even  exempted  them  from  all  duties 
towards  the  state.  The  non-Turkish  elements  were 
only  called  upon  to  pay  a  yearly  tribute  to  the 
Empire  and  outside  of  this  were  left  entirely  free 
to  look  after  themselves.  When  it  is  realized  that 
these  religious  and  political  privileges  were  gra- 
ciously granted  by  the  Turks  to  conquered  races 
generations  before  the  Spanish  Inquisition — when 
the  Christian  conquerors  of  Spain  tried  to  impose 
Christianity  on  the  conquered  Arabs  and  Hebrews 
through  hair-raising  tortures — and  centuries  be- 
fore the  religious  wars  of  Europe — when  Catholic 
and  Protestant  majorities  tried  to  impose  their  in- 
dividual dogma  upon  each  other  through  massa- 
cres and  torture  without  considering  racial  or 
even  family  ties — the  broadmindedness  and  justice 
of  the  Turkish  conquerors  becomes  apparent.  Be 
it  also  said  incidentally  that  when  it  is  realized 
that  these  political  and  religious  privileges  granted 
by  the  Turks  in  1453  have  survived  nearly  five 


ii2  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

long  centuries,  the  stories  of  all  these  Christian  per- 
secutions will  be  somewhat  discredited  and  will  be 
considered  at  least  as  greatly  exaggerated  as  the 
news  of  the  death  of  Mark  Twain. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  the  fact  is  that  the  granting 
of  these  privileges  placed  on  the  shoulders  of  the 
Turks  the  heavy  burden  of  all  military  and  gov- 
ernmental duties  while  the  non-Turkish  elements 
went  through  centuries  free  from  any  obligation. 
Of  course  they  were  free  to  participate  in  the 
governmental  civil  service  if  they  chose  to  do 
so,  but  their  sense  of  allegiance  to  the  country 
was  not  strong  enough  and  their  greediness  was 
too  strong  to  induce  them  to  undertake  duties  to 
which  they  were  not  forced.  Rather  than  to 
take  care  of  the  common  wealth  of  the  nation  they 
preferred  to  take  care  of  their  own  individual 
wealth.  And  as  commerce,  finance  and  industry 
developed  through  the  centuries  the  non-Turkish 
elements  of  the  country  obtained  a  solid  economic 
grip  and  used  it  in  their  endeavours  to  choke  the 
Turks. 

The  democratic  revolution  of  1908  started  the 
economic  awakening  of  the  Turks.  The  govern- 
mental reorganisation  which  took  place  at  that 
time  threw  on  their  own  resources  many  Turkish 
families  who  had  until  then  depended  for  their 
living  on  salaries  earned  by  their  members  as 
government  employees.     To  support  their  family 


BUSINESS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE  113 

these  people  had  to  go  into  business.  Later  the 
various  wars  of  Turkey,  involving  losses  of  vast 
territories,  necessitated  further  curtailment  in  the 
number  of  civilian  and  military  employees  of  the 
Government.  This  further  increased  the  Turkish 
participation  in  the  business  life  of  the  country. 
Finally  the  general  war  which  resulted  in  tre- 
mendous territorial  losses  for  Turkey  as  well  as  in 
the  complete  emancipation  of  women  brought 
about  a  very  forceful  nationalistic  awakening  in 
all  forms  of  activity.  The  slogan  "Turkey  for 
the  Turks"  invaded  general  business  and  gave 
such  a  tremendous  impetus  to  the  Turks  that 
it  was  a  very  great  surprise  to  me — and  a  very 
gratifying  one — to  witness  at  my  return  the  ex- 
tent to  which  my  people  have  succeeded  in  ob- 
taining a  foothold  in  the  business  life  of  the 
country.  The  great  majority  of  the  Turks  are 
now  in  business,  men  and  women.  In  all  the 
shops  and  offices  of  Stamboul,  in  quite  a  few  stores 
and  offices  of  Pera  and  Galata  you  see  Turkish 
girls  at  work  behind  counters  or  at  desks,  some 
working  on  big  ledgers,  others  pounding  on  type- 
writers. All  the  Turkish  working-girls  dress  very 
simply  in  demure  little  black  frocks,  their  hair 
covered  with  the  becoming  "charshaf"  with  a 
thin  veil  rakishly  thrown  over  it.  It  gives  to 
their  faces  a  soft,  dark  frame  from  under  which  a 
few  mischievous  blonde  or  hlack  locks  openly 
laugh  at  the  old  customs. 


ii4  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

Of  course  there  are  many  more  Turkish  men 
than  women  in  business.  Many  Turkish  trading 
firms  have  been  formed,  many  Turkish  factories 
are  now  operating  and  there  are  even  quite  a 
few  small  Turkish  banks.  All  these  firms  employ 
Turks  almost  exclusively.  Thus  gradually  the 
Turks  are  reclaiming  the  business  of  their  own 
country  from  those  who  have  had  it  for  centuries 
and  as  the  Turks  are  really  the  only  stable  and 
reliable  element  of  the  Near  East  they  will  surely 
obtain  finally  the  lead  in  Near  Eastern  business 
matters.  The  process  will  be  slow  as  the  competi- 
tion the  Turks  have  to  contend  with  is  extremely 
strong  and  very  often  not  fair.  But  their  business 
ability  should  not  be  gauged  by  the  time  they  will 
require  to  take  a  preponderant  position  in  Near 
Eastern  business.  They  have  as  rivals  Jews, 
Armenians  and  Greeks  who  have  the  benefit  of 
many  centuries  of  experience  plus  old  established 
organizations.  An  old  saying  states  that  it  takes 
one  Jew  to  fool  two  Christians,  one  Armenian 
to  fool  two  Jews  and  one  Greek  to  fool  two 
Armenians.  The  non-Turkish  conception  of  good 
business  in  the  Orient  is  principally  to  fool  those 
one  is  dealing  with.  And  Greeks,  Armenians  and 
Jews  are  now  more  than  ever  trying  to  "dear' 
with  the  Turks! 

The  principal  Turkish*  business  center  is,  of 
course,  in  Stamboul  and  the  location  of  my  office 
gives  me  the  double  advantage  of  being  near  my 


BUSINESS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE  115 

home  and  among  my  own  people.  My  office  is 
right  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  of  the  Sublime  Porte. 
It  is  near  the  station  and  almost  on  the  water 
front.  Big  transit  warehouses  for  merchandise 
to  be  transshipped  to  and  from  Black  Sea  ports 
are  just  opposite  our  building,  but  as  the  ware- 
houses are  low  they  do  not  impair  in  any  way  the 
view  I  have  from  my  windows.  In  fact  the  view  is 
so  gorgeous  and  so  little  inducive  to  work  that  I 
have  turned  my  desk  so  that  I  have  the  window 
and  the  view  at  my  back.  I  believe  that  with  such 
a  view  as  the  one  we  have  in  Constantinople  and 
with  the  climate  we  enjoy,  business  here  will  never 
reach  the  intensiveness  of  business  in  London  or 
in  New  York,  despite  the  fact  that  geographically 
speaking  Constantinople  commands  a  more  im- 
portant economic  position  than  any  other  city  in 
the  world  being  as  it  is  astride  two  continents. 
While  the  atmosphere  of  New  York  is  so  full  of 
electricity  that  one  is  forced  to  be  on  the  go  prac- 
tically all  the  time,  and  while  the  fog  of  London 
makes  it  almost  a  physical  pleasure  to  remain 
at  work  within  the  four  walls  of  a  cosy  office, 
the  climate  of  Constantinople  relaxes  one's  nerves 
and  its  gorgeous  scenery,  its  beautiful  Oriental 
sky  have  an  irresistible,  softening  appeal,  calling 
to  the  outdoors,  to  repose  or  to  contemplation,  ac- 
cording to  one's  individual  temperament.  Al- 
though it  does  not  make  people  lazy,  it  renders 
them  somewhat  easy-going.  They  do  not,  they  can- 


n6  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

not  struggle  with  as  much  intensiveness  as  in  New 
York  or  in  London. 

From  the  windows  of  my  office  I  can  see  part  of 
the  famous  Galata  Bridge,  where  more  races  and 
nationalities  intermingle  with  each  other  than  any- 
where else  in  the  world.  I  dare  say  that  there  is  not 
a  single  nationality  of  Europe  which  has  not  at  least 
one  member  cross  this  bridge  every  day.  Ameri- 
cans, Africans  and  Asiatics  are  also  represented 
here.  Since  the  armistice  Great  Britain  has  added 
to  this  collection  Australians  and  New  Zealanders. 
Hindoos  in  native  costumes  or  in  British  uniforms, 
Cossacks,  Kalmuks  and  Tartars  of  the  Russian 
steppes,  Arabs  with  long,  flowing  robes  rub  elbows 
with  Turco-mans,  Chinamen,  Japanese  and  Anna- 
mites,  while  the  local  crowd  of  Turks,  Armenians, 
Albanians,  Greeks  and  Slavs  of  different  nation- 
alities go  their  way  in  an  incessant  stream.  Flocks 
of  sheep  and  herds  of  cattle  freshly  landed  from 
the  Balkan  countries  pass  over  the  bridge  among 
electric  street  cars,  carriages,  sedan-chairs,  cara- 
vans of  camels  and  automobiles:  Rolls-Royces, 
Fiats,  Mercedes  and  Fords.  Thickly  veiled  Arab 
women,  bloomered  Gypsy,  Armenian  and  Greek 
women,  fat  Jewesses  covered  with  gold  pieces  and 
their  more  modern  progeny — Rebeccas  with  sleepy 
black  eyes — critically  view  each  other  under  the 
amused  gaze  of  passing  British  ladies,  American 
tourists,  Russian  princesses  and  gracefully  slim 
Turkish    ladies    flaunting    their    emancipation    to 


BUSINESS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE  117 

the  astonished  gaze  of  foreigners,  while  Parisian 
cocottes  and  a  few  of  their  less  refined  local  col- 
leagues cross  the  bridge  joy-riding  in  the  military 
automobiles  of  their  lovers  who  have  occupied 
Constantinople  "in  the  name  of  civilization." 

This  continuous  movement  on  the  bridge  is  only 
equalled  by  the  movement  in  the  harbour  which 
I  can  also  see  from  the  windows  of  my  office. 
Small  steamers  serving  the  commuters  of  the  Bos- 
phorus  and  of  the  Islands,  large  cargo  boats  and 
passenger  steamers,  schooners,  yachts,  warships 
and  even  big  transatlantics  seem  to  be  moving 
perpetually  in  and  out  of  this  congested  harbour 
bringing  to  it  their  individual  load  of  wares,  mer- 
chandise and  passengers  from  the  farthest  cor- 
ners of  the  globe.  Right  in  front  of  my  windows 
the  two  old  continents — the  cradles  of  the  most 
ancient  civilizations — meet  and  become  one  under 
the  clear,  peaceful  blue  sky  of  the  East. 

It  is  this  very  diversity  of  things  that  renders 
Constantinople  and  especially  business  in  Con- 
stantinople so  interesting  and  captivating  that  I 
don't  know  of  any  one  who,  having  tasted  its 
romance,  does  not  feel  tied  and  bound  forever  to 
the  place.  It  is  not  only  that  one  deals  with  all 
the  nations  of  the  world  but — which  is  far  more 
interesting — one  is  in  personal  and  daily  touch 
with  all  of  them :  a  business  day  in  Constantinople 
is  really  captivating  and  edifying.  Even  in  such 
a  comparatively  small  office  as   ours  it  offers  a 


n8  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

degree  of  diversity  and  of  unexpected  happenings 
which  is  totally  different  from  the  usual  routine 
and  humdrum  life  of  offices  in  other  parts  of 
the  world. 

From  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  to  the  closing 
of  business  my  office  is  the  scene  of  an  interna- 
tional procession  and  of  unexpected  events,  some 
of  which  are  comic  and  others  tragic;  but  all 
instructive.  It  starts  with  the  daily  interview  with 
our  brokers,  Jews,  Armenians,  Greeks  and  Turks. 
As  merchants  of  all  these  nationalities  are  estab- 
lished in  the  market  one  is  obliged  to  employ  an 
international  crowd  of  brokers.  They  are  all, 
except  the  Turks,  cut  on  the  same  pattern.  Courte- 
ous and  polite — but  not  any  longer  "sleek"  or 
"unctuous"  like  the  Oriental  merchants  of  the  old 
school — they  want  to  impress  you  with  their  good- 
heartedness  and  their  joviality.  They  want  you  to 
believe  that  they  have  no  secrets  from  you  and 
that  their  motive  in  working  for  you  is  solely 
the  academic  interest  they  take  in  your  success. 
They  are  ready  to  swear  that  they  do  not  want  to 
make  any  profit  and  that  they  will  sacrifice  their 
commission  to  put  a  deal  through  for  you.  This 
display  of  good  will  and  good  intentions  lasts  gen- 
erally up  to  the  time  that  the  deal  is  "almost" 
through;  then  at  the  psychological  moment  the 
broker  makes  a  desperate  attempt  to  obtain  an  addi- 
tional commission  on  the  grounds  that  he  has  been 
obliged — in  your  interest — to  divide  his  regular 


BUSINESS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE  119 

commission  entirely  among  certain  people  whose 
influence  alone  has  brought  it  to  the  point  of  com- 
pletion. Of  course  all  this  haggling  is  part  of  the 
game  and  at  times  it  is  quite  amusing  to  see  the 
extent  to  which  a  man  who  believes  himself  astute 
can  make  a  fool  of  himself.  However,  I  must 
say  that  when  one  knows  them  well  these  men  can 
be  handled  easily  and  if  after  a  few  trials  they 
see  that  they  cannot  fool  you  they  respect  you 
the  more  for  it — and  try  again  only  on  very  rare 
occasions  when  they  think  you  are  off  your  guard. 
The  Turkish  brokers  are  of  a  totally  different 
type.  Some  are  well  educated,  refined  men, 
former  government  officials  who  are  newly  in 
business  and  hope  to  work  their  way  up  to  becom- 
ing sooner  or  later  full-fledged  merchants.  They 
are  learning  the  business  while  they  give  you 
the  benefit  of  their  often  very  extended  connec- 
tions. But  they  are  aware  of  their  lack  of  ex- 
perience and  expect  you  to  coach  them.  Generally 
you  have  to  give  them  accurate  and  detailed 
instructions  which  you  can,  as  a  rule,  depend  on 
their  following  conscientiously  Others  are — at 
least  in  appearance — good  old  peasants  of  Ana- 
tolia, often  wearing  baggy  trousers  and  turbans. 
They  do  not  at  first  impress  you  as  able  brokers 
or  salesmen,  but  try  them  out  and  see;  they 
may  know  how  to  read  only  just  enough  to 
decipher  laboriously  the  specifications  of  the  goods 
they  sell,  they  may  know  how  to  write  only  just 


120  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

enough  to  sign  their  names,  but  they  can  and  they 
do  make  mentally  the  most  complicated  calculation 
of  discounts,  percentages  or  commissions,  they 
can  and  do  book  orders  and  clients.  They  are 
usually  the  most  honest  type  of  brokers  in  Constan- 
tinople. Many  Turkish  merchants  also  belong  to 
this  class  and  many  of  them  who  at  first  impressed 
me  as  being  paupers  turned  out  to  have  more 
money  than  any  one  else  in  the  market.  They  are 
thrifty,  active,  intelligent  and  honest  peasants. 

Of  course  the  interviews  with  brokers  are  just 
as  much  part  of  the  office  routine  as  answering 
cables  and  letters  and  going  over  current  busi- 
ness. I  try  to  dispose  of  all  these  matters  in  the 
mornings  so  that  when  I  come  back  after  lunch, 
rested  and  fresh,  I  can  devote  the  greater  part  of 
my  afternoon  to  new  propositions.  And  this  is  the 
really  interesting  part  of  the  day,  as  propo- 
sitions of  the  most  diversified  nature  abound  now 
in  Constantinople.  One  comes  in  touch  with  the 
most  extraordinary,  interesting  and  at  times  pa- 
thetic people  with  unusual  business  offers.  Every- 
body has  something  to  sell,  everybody  is  in  quest 
of  business.  Thousands  and  thousands  of  refugees 
of  all  kinds  are  here  and  all  of  them,  as  well  as 
the  usual  inhabitants  of  Constantinople,  have  to 
earn  their  bread. 

The  most  unusual  propositions  are  generally 
engineered  by  the  Russian  refugees.  Many  of 
these  are  spendthrifts  who  prefer  to  earn  their 


BUSINESS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE  121 

living  in  an  easy  manner,  either  through  gambling 
or  through  managing  amusement  places,  restau- 
rants, dancing  clubs,  theaters,  etc.  A  group  of 
titled  Russian  refugees  headed  by  a  former  cham- 
berlain of  the  late  Tsar  succeeded  in  starting  a 
large  establishment  which  provided  all  imaginable 
amusements,  not  barring  roulette,  and  their  en- 
terprise was  so  successful  that  within  two  or 
three  months  after  it  started  they  were  able  to 
pay  back  with  substantial  profits  the  money  they 
had  borrowed  to  launch  it.  After  this  they  be- 
came intoxicated  with  their  success  and  consider- 
ing their  enterprise  as  a  mint,  proceeded  to 
spend  its  nightly  earnings  as  rapidly  as  they  were 
won.  They  disposed  of  their  profits  at  their  own 
gambling  tables,  they  lavishly  entertained  their 
friends  and  guests  by  consuming  indiscriminately 
their  own  stocks  of  wines  and  food,  and  naturally 
within  another  couple  of  months  they  were  obliged 
to  close  their  doors.  But  many  other  amusement 
places  flourish  still  in  Pera  under  the  management 
of  Russians,  who  are  most  ingenious  in  this  kind 
of  enterprise.  A  former  officer  of  the  Russian 
army  once  came  to  us  and  asked  us  to  finance  a 
scheme  which  would  have  made  a  second  Monte 
Carlo  of  Constantinople.  As  we  did  not  care  to 
enter  into  this  kind  of  business  we  lost  sight  of  him 
for  quite  a  long  period.  He  came  back  one  day, 
however,  and  told  us  that  his  scheme  having 
fallen   through  he   and   his   family  had  been   so 


122  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

near  starvation  that  they  had  just  about  decided 
to  commit  suicide  collectively  when  it  occurred 
to  him  to  commercialize  the  hobby  he  had  in  his 
days  of  prosperity,  namely,  cabinet  and  furniture 
making.  He  had  offered  his  services  for  this 
purpose  to  a  new  restaurant  which  had  immedi- 
ately commissioned  him.  His  wife,  a  former  lady 
in  waiting  of  the  Tzarina,  had  become  a  cook 
in  this  restaurant  and  their  daughter,  a  child  of 
about  fifteen, ,  had  had  the  good  luck  to  find  a 
position  as  lady's  maid  with  some  well-to-do  for- 
eigners. Thus  the  family  had  been  saved  from 
starvation  and  the  former  officer  is  now  one  of  the 
most  successful  furniture  makers  of  Constanti- 
nople. He  had  heard  that  we  were  enlarging  our 
offices  and  wanted  to  figure  on  the  new  furniture 
we  needed.  Needless  to  say  that  he  got  the  order. 
Some  Russians  have,  of  course,  regular  business 
propositions  like  the  man  who  undertook — and 
succeeded — in  exchanging  for  the  account  of  some 
friends  of  mine,  jewels,  petroleum  and  caviar 
from  Caucasia  for  American  flour  and  condensed 
milk,  a  transaction  which  brought  very  substantial 
profits  to  himself  and  to  my  friends.  Others, 
however,  have  propositions  which  are  businesslike 
or  practicable  only  to  their  unaccustomed  eyes. 
Some  come  just  with  an  idea  and  expect  you  to 
jump  at  it  and  give  them  a  substantial  participa- 
tion, like  an  old  Russian  admiral  who  came  once 
to  us  suggesting  that  we  should  purchase  one  of 


BUSINESS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE  123 

the  cargo  boats  of  the  Russian  Volunteer  fleet 
which  was  to  be  sold  at  auction  next  week  for 
the  payment  of  debts.  He  believed  that  by  making 
an  offer  before  the  public  auction  the  boat  could 
be  purchased  at  a  bargain  price.  The  poor  old 
admiral  was  very  much  disappointed  when  it  was 
explained  to  him  that  the  creditors — British  and 
Greek  firms — were  the  ones  who  forced  the  sale 
and  would  be  satisfied  only  by  the  highest  price 
obtainable  as  their  claims  exceeded  by  far  the  mar- 
ket value  of  the  ship.  He  had  counted  on  the  in- 
fluence he  still  had  with  Russian  circles  to  accom- 
plish this  transaction.  He  had  counted  on  this  to 
keep  his  body  and  soul  together.  His  clothes  were 
shabby  and  his  shoes  were  patched. 

One  could  not  help  feeling  sorry  for  him,  but  the 
most  pathetic  of  all  are  the  women.  One  day  an 
old  Russian  princess  was  ushered  into  my  office. 
Her  name  was  familiar  to  me  as  having  been  the 
hostess  in  the  years  gone  by  in  her  stupendous 
estate  in  Crimea  of  an  uncle  of  mine  on  a  special 
mission  of  the  Sultan  to  the  Tsar  who  was  then 
summering  at  Yalta.  My  uncle  had  told  us  the 
lavish  manner  in  which  this  princess  had  enter- 
tained the  Turkish  mission.  Her  residence  was 
a  palace  filled  with  precious  antique  furniture  and 
works  of  art.  Her  meals  were  served  on  solid 
gold  plates  incrusted  with  diamonds,  rubies  and 
other  precious  stones.  She  had  thousands  of 
peasants  on  her  estate.    Now  she  was  coming  to 


124  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

ask  my  assistance  to  sell  her  rights  to  some  oil 
fields  she  had  in  Caucasia.  She  was  willing  to 
sell  them  for  a  song — the  rights  to  these  oil  fields 
whose  annual  income  had  been  in  the  past  equal  to 
a  king's  ransom.  I  had  to  explain  to  her  that  as 
the  Bolsheviks  did  not  recognize  the  rights  of 
private  property,  especially  property  belonging 
to  the  former  Russian  nobility,  I  was  afraid  that 
it  would  be  impossible  to  find  a  buyer  for  her. 
The  poor  lady  was  disappointed,  but  she  confided 
to  me  that  she  had  received  similar  answers  from 
other  business  men.  She  therefore  wanted  to  make 
me  another  proposition.  When  she  had  fled  from 
Crimea  she  had  hidden  her  most  precious  jewels 
in  a  place  where  she  knew  the  Bolsheviks  would 
never  think  to  search  for  them.  She  was  now 
ready  to  tell  exactly  where  these  jewels  were  and 
to  divide  them  with  anyone  who  would  recover 
them  for  her.  When  I  told  her  that  the  insur- 
mountable difficulties  of  getting  her  jewels  out 
of  the  country  while  the  Bolsheviks  were  still 
there  made  her  proposition  impracticable,  the  poor 
old  lady,  making  a  superhuman  effort  not  to  break 
down  at  this,  possibly  the  hundredth,  refusal  of 
her  "business"  proposition,  asked  me  if  I  knew 
any  one  who  would  care  to  take  French  lessons. 
Happily  my  wife  wanted  to  take  up  French  and 
I  was  able  to  help  her. 

Russians  are  not  the  only  ones  who  scramble 
for  business.     Hundreds  of  transactions  are  pro- 


BUSINESS  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE  125 

posed  by  and  handled  through  people  of  a  hun- 
dred different  nationalities,  and  the  characteristics 
of  each  individual  nation  govern  the  negotiations 
in  each  transaction.  With  so  many  diversified 
propositions  and  with  the  different  style  of  nego- 
tiations they  each  require,  it  really  is  a  fortunate 
thing  that  the  religions  of  the  different  races 
of  the  Near  East  crowd  the  calendar  with  many 
diversified  holidays.  Otherwise  few  business 
men  would  be  able  to  stand  the  strain.  As 
it  is,  the  quantity  of  holidays  which  are  kept 
by  the  business  community  of  Constantinople 
affords  a  welcome  relief.  First  of  all  there  are 
the  weekly  Sabbaths.  Turkish  business  houses 
keep  their  Sabbath  on  Fridays  which  is  the  Sun- 
day of  the  Muslims.  While  they  generally  do 
not  close  altogether,  business  is  always  very  slack 
for  them  on  Fridays.  In  my  office  where  we 
are  all  Turks  and  Muslims,  and  we  are  eight  in 
all,  we  take  our  Friday  turns  in  rotation  so  that 
on  these  days  there  are  only  two  of  us  at  the  office. 
The  Jews  and  the  Christians,  of  course,  maintain 
their  Sabbath  respectively  on  Saturdays  and  Sun- 
days so  that  business  is  also  slack  on  these  days. 
Other  holidays  occur  quite  often  on  account  of  the 
great  diversity  of  religions  and  nationalities.  All 
these  compensate  for  the  strain  of  normal  business 
days  which,  while  not  being  as  intensive  as  in  some 
of  the  great  western  business  centers  is  neverthe- 
less very  exhausting  on  account  of  the  variety  of 


126  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

business  treated  and  of  the  complexity  of  the 
transactions.  One  has  to  satisfy  the  requirements 
of  buyers  and  sellers  who  do  not  speak  the  same 
business  language,  whose  conceptions,  ideas  and 
mentality  are  totally  different  and  whose  methods 
are  diametrically  opposed.  One  has,  therefore, 
to  think  and  engineer  all  kinds  of  combinations  to 
overcome  all  the  difficulties,  and  I  know  by  experi- 
ence that  it  is  not  always  an  easy  task. 

At  the  close  of  the  business  day,  when  I  climb 
the  hill  leading  to  our  house,  I  am  generally  tired 
and  mentally  exhausted  and  the  prospect  of  a  quiet 
evening  at  home  is  certainly  a  relief. 


VIII 
A  STAMBOUL  NIGHT 

GENERALLY  leave  my  office  at  about  five- 
thirty  or  six  o'clock.  On  my  way  home  I  meet 
the  crowd  going  to  the  bridge,  the  commuters 
who  have  to  catch  their  boat  as  well  as  business 
people  and  government  employees  who  live  in 
Nishan-Tashe  or  Shishli,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
Golden  Horn.  It  is  the  rush  hour  of  Constanti- 
nople. Every  one  is  going  home.  The  small 
stores  on  the  avenue,  mostly  stationery  stores  and 
bookstores,  are  pulling  down  corrugated  iron 
shutters  over  their  doors.  Every  few  minutes  a 
grinding  metallic  noise  indicates  that  another 
storekeeper  is  starting  home.  I  buy  my  daily  pro- 
vision of  cigarettes  from  the  Persian  tobacconist 
around  the  corner.  I  know  he  is  a  Persian,  al- 
though he  wears  the  Turkish  fez,  from  his  hen- 
naed beard  trimmed  in  a  semi-circle  and  from  the 
long  frock  coat  he  wears.  Little  Turkish  news- 
boys shout  the  headings  of  the  last  sensational 
news  in  the  evening  papers.  I  always  buy  one 
and  if  I  do  not  have  the  proper  change  the  news- 
boy digs  into  his  fez.  They  carry  their  change 
on  their  heads  and  the  much  worn   squares  of 

127 


128  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

paper  money  are  the  more  greasy  for  it.  I  cross 
the  street-car  tracks  congested  with  cars  wherein 
human  cattle  is  packed  as  tightly  as  in  a  New 
York  subway.  People  are  streaming  down  the  hill 
in  groups  of  three  or  four,  clerks  from  the  Sub- 
lime Porte  looking  prosperous  and  smart  despite 
the  fact  that  their  salary  which  is  anyhow  barely 
enough  to  support  them,  is  paid  to  them  every 
two  or  three  months.  They  go  hungry  and  live  in 
the  cheapest  possible  quarters  but  try  to  look  well, 
these  poor  Turkish  Government  employees,  in  an 
endeavour  to  save  appearances  and  to  keep  up 
their  dignity  in  the  eyes  of  the  foreigners.  They 
walk  leisurely  and  stop  to  greet  each  other.  They 
talk  politics.  I  know  quite  a  few  of  them  and  every 
once  in  a  while  we  exchange  "temenahs,"  the 
graceful  Turkish  salutation.  Quite  a  few  go  up 
the  hill;  Turkish  business  men  and  working  girls 
living  in  Stamboul  like  myself. 

It  is  twilight.  Overhead  little  puffs  of  pink 
cloud  reflect  the  last  rays  of  the  setting  sun, 
while  one  by  one  lights  are  turned  on  in  the  win- 
dows of  surrounding  buildings,  indicating  the 
homecoming  of  some  toiler.  The  crowd  in  the 
street  is  thinning.  I  reach  our  house  as  the  auto- 
mobiles of  the  Ministers,  who  now  meet  in  daily 
council  at  the  Sublime  Porte,  pass  through  the 
gates  of  the  Government  Palace.  They  work 
late,  they  are  the  last  ones  to  leave. 

My  wife  is  waiting  for  me.     Unless  we  have 


A  STAMBOUL  NIGHT  129 

previously  arranged  to  meet  somewhere  else,  she 
is  always  at  home  to  greet  me  at  my  return.  It 
is  not  proper  for  ladies  to  be  alone  in  the  streets 
of  Constantinople  after  sunset,  and  we  both  like 
to  start  the  evening  together.  We  tell  each  other 
what  we  have  done  in  the  afternoon,  we  read  the 
evening  papers  and  then  we  sit  down  to  dinner. 
We  have  our  evening  meal  early :  everybody  dines 
early  in  Stamboul.  When  we  are  alone  we  have 
dinner  served  in  the  drawing-room,  on  an  old 
Italian  carved  wood  table.  It  is  less  formal  and 
cosier.  When  dinner  is  finished  the  servants 
clear  the  table.  My  wife  sits  on  the  couch  with 
her  sewing,  I  sit  next  to  her  in  an  easy  chair. 
We  talk.  It  is  peaceful  and  quiet.  We  feel  our 
nerves  gradually  relaxing  from  the  strain  of  the 
day. 

It  is  now  evening.  The  dusk  has  fallen  over 
Stamboul.  Above,  the  purple  sky  is  getting  darKer 
and  one  by  one  the  stars  are  lighting  in  the  firma- 
ment. Only  one  of  our  big  windows  is  opened  as 
it  is  quite  cool  outside.  From  behind  the  lattices 
we  see  the  breeze  gently  swaying  the  branches  of 
the  plane  trees  bordering  our  street.  Through  the 
cleft  of  a  dark,  narrow  street  which  winds  its  way 
to  the  nearby  sea  we  can  see  the  lights  of  some 
ships  lying  in  the  harbour.  Just  opposite  us  the 
rambling  building  of  the  Sublime  Porte  is  silent 
and  dark,  the  Government  Departments  are  all 
closed.     In  the  street  below  only  a  few  belated 


130  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

passers-by  are  hurrying  home.  At  a  distance  the 
Mosque  of  Santa  Sophia  raises  its  minarets  high 
against  the  starlit  vault  of  Heaven,  as  in  prayer, 
and  the  park  of  the  Old  Seraglio  projects  the 
black  silhouettes  of  its  trees:  oaks  and  cypresses 
which  have  witnessed  the  splendours  of  the  reign 
of  Soliman  the  Magnificent.  In  the  branches  of  a 
nearby  plane  tree  a  flock  of  doves  flutter  and  set- 
tle for  the  coming  night. 

A  calm  oriental  night  is  falling  over  the  city. 
The  darkness  deepens  and  the  quiet  increases. 
I  look  out  from  the  window.  In  the  streets,  a 
water  seller  is  walking  slowly,  I  can  see  dimly  a 
graceful  brass  vessel  swinging  from  his  shoulders. 
He  stops  before  the  house,  and  in  a  plaintive  vel- 
vety voice  chants  the  merits  of  his  cool  water  "as 
sweet  as  frozen  sherbet" — then  goes  on  his  way 
and  disappears  in  the  blue  night.  At  a  distance 
we  hear  the  watchman  coming,  knocking  his  club 
on  the  pavement  to  mark  the  hour  "toe — toe — toe 
— toe  .  .  ."  He  is  coming  nearer,  his  beat 
takes  him  through  our  street.  Now  he  stops:  the 
street  is  so  quiet  that  we  can  hear  him  greeting 
someone:  "Selam'  u  aleykum — peace  be  with 
you  .  »  . "  The  newcomer  tells  him  something. 
Then,  in  the  silence,  the  man  who  watches  after 
night  over  the  safety  of  all  raises  his  voice  in  a 
long-drawn  note  of  warning:  "YVa'an  gun 
vaaar  I"  He  has  been  notified  that  there  is  a  fire 
and  he  notifies  all  of  the  danger.    Most  of  us  live 


A  STAMBOUL  NIGHT  131 

in  frame  houses  here  in  Stamboul  and  a  fire  is 
dangerous.  Time  and  again  thousands  of  houses 
have  disappeared  in  a  single  night,  thousands  of 
people  have  remained  homeless.  If  the  fire  is  near 
we  must  all  gather  our  belongings.  My  wife  is 
anxious.  She  comes  to  the  window:  let  us  find 
out  where  the  fire  is,  the  watchman  will  tell  us.  He 
is  now  quite  near,  he  beats  his  club  almost  on  our 
doorstep.  "Y'a'a'an  gun  Vaaar — Mahmoud  Pash- 
ada."  It  is  not  so  bad,  Mahmoud  Pasha  is  the 
name  of  a  quarter,  a  wholesale  business  district 
where  no  one  lives — so  the  losers  will  be  the  in- 
surance companies  who  charge  such  high  pre- 
miums that  they  can  afford  to  lose.  It  is  quite  far 
from  us  although  from  the  windows  at  the  back 
of  our  house  we  can  see  a  red  glow  behind  the 
mosque  of  Yeni  Djami:  it  makes  its  cupola  shine 
and  its  minarets  throw  fantastic  shadows  over  the 
neighbouring  buildings.  But  the  conflagration  is 
small  and  the  wind  is  not  strong  to-night,  so  it  will 
be  soon  under  control.  Let  us  return  to  the  sit- 
ting-room. 

The  watchman  continues  his  round.  His  voice 
is  now  dying  out  in  the  distance.  Everything  is 
quiet  again.  The  night  has  fallen.  It  is  the  hour 
of  relaxation.  We  might  receive  the  visit  of  some 
friends.  One  can  better  exchange  ideas  in  the  calm 
of  the  night,  and  people  in  Stamboul  are  now  too 
poor  to  indulge  in  regular  social  life  but  they  love 
to  call  on  each  other  in  after-dinner  impromptu 


132  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

visits.  They  leave  the  more  elaborate  kind  of  en- 
tertainments to  their  more  wealthy  cousins  living 
on  the  slopes  of  the  hills  above  Pera,  in  Shishli 
or  Nishantashe.  Here  we  are  satisfied  with  sim- 
ple, unpretentious  visits;  they  help  pass  away  the 
time  in  a  far  more  interesting  and  morally  pro- 
ductive manner  than  the  dancing  and  exchange 
of  platitude  usual  in  large  social  gatherings. 

Let  us  light  the  candles  and  turn  out  the  electric 
light.  The  soft,  golden  glow  of  candles  is  more 
restful,  and  conducive  to  deeper  thought.  It  is 
in  harmony  with  the  darkness  outside  and  will  at- 
tune us  to  the  relaxation  of  nature  at  night.  I 
love  semi-darkness.  I  will  only  light  the  silver  can- 
delabra on  the  table  and  this  funny  old  lantern 
hanging  here  at  the  corner.  Its  silent  shadow  will 
talk  to  us  of  the  past,  when  its  pale  light  was  used 
to  illumine  the  steps  of  those  who  ventured  in  the 
streets  after  sunset.  Even  I  can  remember  the 
time  when  the  streets  of  Stamboul  were  not 
lighted.  Electricity  is  a  very  recent  innovation 
and  in  my  childhood  there  were  so  few  and  such 
feeble  oil  lamps  in  the  streets  that  every  one  who 
went  out  at  night  was  accompanied  by  a  servant 
who  carried  a  lantern  like  this,  a  folding  lantern 
with  a  round  chiselled  silver  bottom  and  a  round 
chiselled  silver  top,  its  sides  made  of  oiled  parch- 
ment or  goatskin  pleated  horizontally  so  that  it 
could  fold  when  not  in  use.  The  servant  would 
walk  just  a  few  steps  before  you,  holding  the  Ian- 


A  STAMBOUL  NIGHT  133 

tern  low  on  the  ground  so  that  its  dim  light 
would  illumine  your  steps.  It  was  an  event  for 
me  to  go  out  after  sunset  and  the  few  occasions 
when  I  did  have  remained  engraved  in  my  mem- 
ory as  great  adventures,  somewhat  terrifying 
and  most  exciting.  I  remember  how  I  used  to 
hang  on  to  the  hand  of  my  mother.  I  was 
abashed  by  the  darkness  surrounding  us,  by  the 
mystery  of  the  night  and  its  solitude.  I  remem- 
ber how  I  would  strain  my  ears  to  hear  the  famil- 
iar rustle  of  my  mother's  wide  silk  skirt,  how  I 
would  ask  her  any  question  that  came  into  my 
mind  just  for  the  sake  of  hearing  her  musical  soft 
voice  coming  from  the  darkness  above,  in  mod- 
ulated tones,  I  remember  how  fascinated  I 
would  be  by  the  yellowish  dancing  light  of  the 
swinging  lantern,  which  would  project  big  sha- 
dows all  around  us.  And  when  one  of  the  street 
dogs,  so  common  at  that  time,  would  wake  up  and 
run  away  from  our  path,  I  would  squeeze  my 
mother's  hand  and  nestle  nearer  to  her  so  that  I 
could  feel  her  silk  dress  against  my  cheek. 

And  now  this  lantern  hangs  in  our  drawing- 
room,  not  any  more  for  a  useful  purpose  in  this 
age  of  electricity,  but  as  an  artistic  ornament,  a 
symbol  of  the  past,  a  symbol  of  the  darkness  of 
bygone  years.  Its  yellowish  glow  illumines  the 
head  of  my  wife  who  sits  right  under  it.  It  sur- 
rounds her  hair  with  a  halo  of  ancient  light.  The 
cycle   of   thoughts   continues,   running   after   the 


134  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

cycle  of  time  in  a  sequence  of  flashes  followed  by 
long  periods  of  darkness! 

We  are  silent.  The  street  outside  must  be  al- 
most deserted,  I  can  only  hear  occasional  steps 
every  once  in  a  while.  But  something  now  stirs 
at  our  front  door.  Someone  knocks.  It  might  be 
some  friends,  it  might  be  a  poor  man,  a  widow  or 
an  orphan  who  comes  to  ask  for  some  help  or  for 
something  to  eat.  Ours  is  a  Turkish  home  and  no 
matter  who  comes  the  Turks  welcome  an  oppor- 
tunity to  be  hospitable  or  charitable.  No  matter 
how  hard  the  times,  there  is  always  something  for 
the  guests. 

It  must  be  guests  as  they  are  coming  up  the 
stairs.  The  voices  stop  at  our  door.  The  ser- 
vant announces  our  neighbours,  Dr.  Assim  Pasha 
and  his  wife  with  our  mutual  friend,  Djevad  Bey. 
They  are  welcome,  the  night  is  still  very  young 
and  they  are  all  very  interesting  people.  Djevad 
is  a  newspaper  man,  he  might  have  some  interest- 
ing news  to  impart.  The  doctor  is  one  of  the  lead- 
ing surgeons  of  the  age  known  not  only  here  but 
even  in  France  and  Germany  where  he  completed 
his  studies.  He  is  a  scientist  and  more:  he  is  a 
thinker,  a  philosopher,  a  man  who  knows  human 
beings  and  humanity  intimately.  His  wife  is  one 
of  the  modern  Turkish  women  who  do  real  things. 
She  speaks  English  fluently  so  she  has  grown  to 
be  a  very  good  friend  of  my  wife  despite  the  dif- 
ference in  their  age.     She  has  a  daughter  who  is 


A  STAMBOUL  NIGHT  135 

now  studying  surgery  in  Germany.  They  are  all 
quiet,  nice  people,  they  exactly  fit  our  mood  to- 
night, they  materialize  the  deep,  calm  atmosphere 
of  a  Stamboul  night.  We  need  not  turn  on  the 
lights. 

We  sit  around,  sip  our  coffee  and  smoke.  Ma- 
dame Assim  Pasha  is  on  the  sofa  next  to  my  wife. 
She  tells  her  of  her  day.  She  is  always  engaged 
on  some  errand  of  mercy,  helping  the  Turkish 
refugees.  Thousands  and  thousands  of  them,  es- 
caped from  the  horrors  of  the  Greek  invasion  of 
Western  Anatolia,  are  now  in  Constantinople, 
homeless,  without  clothes  and  in  want.  All  the 
foreigners  in  Constantinople,  all  the  foreign  papers 
abroad  think,  talk  and  assist  only  Russian,  Greeks, 
Armenians  and  others  who  are  now  crowding 
this  poor  city  of  Constantinople  which  the  ar- 
mistice and  the  unnatural  Treaty  of  Sevres  have 
made  the  dumping-ground  of  all  those  in  need, 
but  no  one  gives  a  thought  to  the  Turkish  refugees 
except  the  Turks.  They  are  horded  in  Mosques 
and  in  public  buildings  and  great  misery  prevails 
among  them.  They  depend  entirely  upon  the  mercy 
of  the  Turks  of  Constantinople  who  are  themselves 
too  poor  to  give  sufficient  help.  But  we  have  to 
do  what  we  can,  we  have  to  share  our  all  with  our 
hungry  brothers  and  sisters  of  Western  Anatolia 
who  have  come  to  our  city  after  the  Greeks,  man- 
datories of  "civilized''  Europe,  had  burned  their 
villages,   ransacked  their  farms   and  killed  their 


136  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

cattle.  The  Turks  are  too  proud  to  beg  for  the 
assistance  of  foreigners,  and  we  are  all  Turks. 
So  we  must  multiply  our  efforts,  we  must  do  the 
impossible  to  feed  and  clothe  our  refugees,  to  take 
care  of  their  health  and  to  send  their  children  to 
school  even  if  we  can  count  only  on  our  own  re- 
sources. Let  the  Russians,  the  Armenians  and  the 
Greeks  cry  and  wail  on  the  sympathetic  shoulders 
of  the  foreigners.  We  will  keep  our  courage  up, 
and  with  the  help  of  God  we  will  see  our  needy 
ones  through,  we  will  overcome  our  present  trou- 
bles as  we  have  overcome  all  our  past  troubles! 
We  do  not  ask  help  from  any  one,  we  only  ask  to 
be  left  alone.  Why  do  not  the  foreigners  take  in 
their  own  homes  their  pet  children,  their  cry- 
babies, and  leave  us  alone  to  heal  our  wounds  ?  Are 
they  afraid  that  the  public  opinion  $n  their  coun- 
tries will — through  direct  contact — realize  too  soon 
the  hypocrisy  of  their  pets?  Are  they  afraid  that 
their  own  people  might  be  contaminated  with  the 
political  and  moral  ailments  of  these  foreign  refu- 
gees? And  if  so  why  should  they  let  Constanti- 
nople and  its  people  be  contaminated  by  anarchical 
ideals  and  immoral  principles?  Have  they  not 
occupied  Constantinople  for  the  purpose  of  main- 
taining law  and  order?  Is  Constantinople  now 
more  lawful  than  before?  Are  not  the  foreign 
refugees  responsible  for  the  spread  of  immorality 
in  Constantinople?  And  what  will  happen  to  Con- 
stantinople    if     all     these     foreigners,     imported 


A  STAMBOUL  NIGHT  137 

against  their  will,  remain  here  and  spread  their 
propaganda  of  discontent,  restlessness  and  law- 
lessness? Madame  Assim  Pasha  talks  calmly  and 
in  a  subdued  tone.  She  does  not  argue,  she  just 
states  facts.  Slowly  and  masterfully  she  depicts 
the  gloomy  consequences  that  the  thoughtlessness 
of  the  Western  Powers  might  bring  to  this  city  of 
misery.  The  present  is  dark  enough  but  the  fu- 
ture will  be  darker  unless  the  Western  Powers  find 
a  remedy  to  it.  The  shadows  in  our  room  seem 
to  have  darkened,  we  are  silent  for  a  few  minutes, 
then  Djevad  Bey  speaks. 

He  has  been  recently  to  Anatolia  and  tells  us 
that  the  situation  in  the  regions  occupied  by  the 
foreigners  is  much  worse  there  than  here.  Stand- 
ing at  his  full  height,  his  slim  athletic  figure  dimly 
discernible  in  the  darkness  of  the  room,  he  quivers 
with  restrained  emotion  and  tells  us  of  the  suffer- 
ings he  has  seen  there.  He  launches  a  diatribe 
against  the  foreign  press  which  will  never  tell  of 
the  miseries  and  injustice  suffered  by  the  Turks, 
while  it  will  always  exaggerate  the  miseries  and 
sufferings  of  all  other  nations — the  foreign  press 
which  will  never  tell  of  the  qualities  and  accom- 
plishments of  the  Turks  while  it  will  show  through 
a  magnifying  glass  the  accomplishments  of  other 
nations.  Will  this  double  standard  ever  be  changed  ? 
Can  the  truth  be  forever  distorted?  Why  this  pre- 
judice against  the  Turks  ?  Will  the  Western  world 
ever  outgrow  it  and  discard  it?    Will  the  World 


138  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

ever  replace  its  preconceived  hatred  for  some  and 
friendship  for  others  by  a  single  feeling  of  com- 
passion for  all  who  suffer,  no  matter  who  they  may 
be,  no  matter  what  their  race,  and  by  one  all-em- 
bracing feeling  of  love  for  all — will  it  ever  adopt 
one  single  standard  of  justice  for  all? 

Djevad  has  once  more  voiced  the  inherent  com- 
plaint of  all  the  Turks  who  resent  the  malign 
treatment  they  are  subjected  to,  the  campaign  of 
defamation  which  they  have  had  to  put  up  with 
since  the  last  generation.  Under  their  stoic  calm- 
ness these  questions  loom  large  in  the  inner-con- 
sciousness of  all  the  Turks  and  cast  a  deep  shadow 
of  doubt  over  their  faith.  In  the  peace  and  quiet  of 
our  room  we  feel  that  his  questions,  if  unan- 
swered, will  shatter  our  confidence  in  the  future, 
we  feel  that  the  world  might  yet  be  plunged  in  a 
terror  still  worse  than  that  of  the  years  of  the 
great  war  if  it  destroys  the  faith  of  the  Turks 
and  throws  them  in  despair  into  the  arms  of  their 
Nihilist  neighbours  of  the  North,  at  the  head  of 
millions  of  Central  Asiatic  tribes,  at  the  head  of 
millions  of  Muslims  now  groaning  under  the  heels 
of  their  conquerors:  a  terror  which  might  be 
darker  than  the  blackest  periods  of  the  Darkest 
Ages. 

Instinctively  we  turn  for  an  answer  to  the  Doc- 
tor. He  has  been  silent  until  now.  He  sits  in 
a  high-backed  chair  like  a  throne.  The  candelabra 
on   the   table   illumines   his   expressive   face   and 


A  STAMBOUL  NIGHT  139 

throws  the  outline  of  his  powerful  profile  in  an 
enormous  shadow  on  the  gray  wall.  It  almost 
reaches  the  ceiling  and  dominates  the  darkened 
room.  The  doctor  is  calm  and  composed,  his 
sensitive  hands  rest  limply  on  the  arms  of  the 
chair.  His  eyes  which  have  studied  the  past, 
stare  dreamily  ahead  in  an  endeavour  to  vis- 
ualize the  future.  They  gleam  with  a  spiritual 
light  which  pierces  the  penumbra  surrounding  him. 
He  is  thinking,  he  gazes — unseeing — at  a  little 
picture  on  the  wall,  a  little  Dutch  picture  on  which 
the  artist  has,  centuries  ago,  painted  the  moon 
rising  from  behind  dark  clouds  to  illumine  with 
rays  of  silver  a  limitless  ocean.  He  sighs,  straight- 
ens up,  throwing  his  head  slightly  back.  Then 
his  colourful,  warm  voice  rises  in  the  silence  and 
the  shadows  surrounding  us. 

A  new  world  is  in  the  making.  The  old  world 
had  been  divided  by  men  into  races,  religions  and 
creeds.  Each  race  had  different  standards,  each 
race  was  prejudiced  against  all  others.  Each  re- 
ligion and  creed  had,  in  the  course  of  time,  ac- 
comodated itself  to  the  pettiness  of  humanity  and 
had  lost  sight  of  its  essential  principles.  The 
divine  light  which  time  and  again  God  had  shed 
in  His  mercy  over  humanity  through  one  or  the 
other  of  his  prophets  had  been  captured  by  nar- 
row-minded dogmatists  of  different  races  and  only 
an  infinitesimal  spark  of  it  had  been  each  time  im- 
prisoned in  a  lantern  for  egotistical  purposes  in- 


i4o  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

stead  of  being  used  to  illumine  the  outer  world. 
Jews,  Christians  and  Muslims  turned  their  own 
lanterns  on  themselves  and  each  one  crowded 
around  it  in  an  endeavour  to  see  its  own  particular 
light.  In  the  scramble  that  followed  and  in  the 
jet  black  darkness  which  surrounded  each  separate 
spark,  those  who  struggled  forgot  what  they  had 
seen  in  the  light.  Mercy,  compassion  and  love  dis- 
appeared from  before  their  eyes.  They  all  called 
each  other  renegades  and  apostates.  The  Chris- 
tian world,  more  materialistic  than  the  others,  ob- 
tained the  upper  hand  and  exerted  its  supremacy 
over  the  globe.  But  the  greediness  of  its  differ- 
ent nations,  their  desire  for  economic  possession 
brought  about  the  general  war.  Even  in  this,  how- 
ever, nations  were  the  unconscious  tools  of  the 
Divine  Power.  One  must  tear  down  to  build  anew. 
One  must  punish  to  improve.  Therefore  nations 
were  made  to  destroy  their  own  material  rich- 
nesses. And  in  the  meanwhile,  unknown  to  them 
the  sparks  in  their  lanterns  have  come  ever  and 
ever  nearer  to  each  other.  The  day  is  near  when 
all  the  lanterns  will  be  united  and  will  illumine 
together — as  God  meant  it — the  work  of  recon- 
struction undertaken  by  a  new  Humanity  which 
has  been  made  to  see  through  suffering.  The 
pains  of  the  present  time  are  the  pains  of  travail. 
Humanity  is  being  reborn.  A  new  age  is  in  the 
making,  a  better  world  is  coming.  It  may  take 
some  time  to  come,  but  when  it  arrives  it  will 


A  STAMBOUL  NIGHT  141 

bring  justice  to  all  without  distinction  of  class, 
colour,  nationality  or  sex.  It  will  usher  in  real 
democracy  based  not  on  equality,  but  on  "one- 
ness." We  are  passing  now  through  the  period  of 
preparation,  the  period  of  travail.  It  is  painful  as 
all  travail  preceding  creation,  but  Humanity  must 
hope,  no  matter  how  hard  the  present  times  are, 
no  matter  how  long  the  hard  times  last.  Nothing 
can  alter  its  destiny.  The  millenium  will  come 
when  Humanity  becomes  conscious  of  God, 
becomes  one  with  Him,  reflects  all  His  attributes: 
and  Mercy  and  Love  are  the  principal  attributes 
of  God.  With  his  eyes  cast  dreamily  ahead,  lost 
in  his  vision,  the  great  surgeon  who  fights  death 
every  day  tells  us  of  immortality  through  love. 
Our  quiet  room  vibrates  with  his  subdued 
voice — the  voice  of  those  who  have  heard  and 
understood  the  wails  of  agony.  Gradually  and 
with  the  conviction  acquired  by  generations  of 
philosophers  before  him,  the  thinker  is  rebuild- 
ing our  faith.  The  faith  that  no  true  Muslim 
must  ever  lose.  The  shadows  surrounding  us  are 
becoming  translucid.  We  come  to  share  his  vision 
of  a  better  world:  a  world  based  not  on  the  equal- 
ity but  on  the  unity  of  all.  We  come  to  share  his 
conviction  that  this  is  the  unavoidable  period  of 
travail  with  its  unavoidable  pains  and  sorrows. 
We  must  go  through  it  without  complaint,  without 
despair,  fully  realizing  that  we  must  use  all  ob- 
stacles in  the  path  of  humanity  as  stepping-stones 


142  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

and  not  as  stumbling-blocks.  And  God  will  keep 
His  covenant  to  humanity.  We  are  not  fatalists, 
but  we  have  faith. 

Our  talk  continues,  inspiring  and  elevating. 
How  far  we  are,  here  in  Stamboul,  from  the  mun- 
dane life  of  Pera.  Yet  it  is  only  a  narrow  strip 
of  water  which  divide  us:  a  strip  of  water  called 
by  the  ancients  "Golden  Horn,"  possibly  because 
of  their  foreknowledge  that  it  would  bring  to 
Stamboul  the  soothing  treasures  of  faith  and  be- 
lief. 

But  all  things  have  an  end,  and  it  is  getting 
late.  We  drink  another  cup  of  coffee,  we  smoke 
a  last  cigarette,  and  true  to  the  Turkish  custom 
we  accompany  our  departing  guests  to  our  front 
door. 

Upstairs  in  our  room  we  are  getting  ready  for 
the  night.  Full  of  the  elevating  talk  of  the  eve- 
ning, we  silently  prepare  for  sleep,  the  sleep  which 
will  lead  our  souls  to  the  giddy  heights  of  uncon- 
scious knowledge.  Through  our  window  we  see 
the  darkness  outside.  It  is  night.  Silence  reigns 
over  Stamboul.  Calm  and  composed,  the  eternal 
Turkish  City  slumbers  under  its  dark  sky  where 
glow  large  Eastern  stars,  while  Levantines  and 
foreigners  feverishly  revel  in  unhealthy  amuse- 
ments on  the  hills  of  Pera.  Let  them  do  what  they 
want  as  long  as  they  leave  us  free  to  use  the  night 
for  its  real  purpose:  meditation,  rest  and  relaxa- 
tion ! 


A  STAMBOUL  NIGHT  143 

It  is  dark  outside.  There  is  only  one  light  in 
the  small  mosque  of  the  Sublime  Porte :  its  tapered 
minaret  points  to  the  oriental  stars  above  which 
silently  sparkle  away  centuries  into  eternity.  Then 
the  little  door  on  top  of  the  minaret  is  pushed 
open  and  the  muezzin  steps  out  on  the  ring-like 
gallery.  It  is  prayer  time.  The  cloudless  sky 
echoes  the  melodious  voice  of  the  muezzin.  High 
above  the  roofs  of  the  slumbering  city  he  calls  the 
faithful  to  prayer: 

"Allahi  Ekber— Allahi  Ekber!    God  is  Great— 

"There  is  no  God  but  God  .    ,    ." 

His  voice  is  pure  as  the  purest  crystal.  He 
chants  the  greatness  of  God  and  His  Unity.  He 
proclaims  in  the  middle  of  the  night  that  prayer  is 
better  than  sleep  and  calls  the  faithful  to  salvation 
through  prayer.  He  gives  his  message  to  the 
four  winds,  and  retires  after  having  again  pro- 
claimed the  greatness  of  God  and  having  claimed 
for  Mahomed  only  the  station  of  Prophethood. 

One  by  one,  silently,  the  soldiers  on  guard  at 
the  Sublime  Porte  and  a  few  neighbours  have  got- 
ten up  from  sleep  and  made  their  way  to  the 
mosque.  They  make  their  ablution  in  the  little 
courtyard:  one  must  be  clean  to  commune  with 
God.  They  enter  the  mosque  and  I  can  see  them 
through  the  open  door.  In  unison  and  as  one  man 
they  kneel,  they  prostrate  themselves  in  adoration 
and  then  they  rise  and  pray :  arms  extended,  palms 


144  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

upwards — standing  like  Christ  on  the  Mount  of 
Olives.    Allahi  Ekber!    God  is  Great! 

The  prayer  is  finished.  Perfect  quiet  again  in 
Stamboul.  The  faithful  have  returned  home.  You 
can  almost  hear  the  world  meditating.  The  mystic 
night  unfolds  its  mysteries  to  the  believers  asleep. 

Complete  silence,  calm  and  relaxation.  The 
Orient  is  dreaming.  At  dawn  the  muezzin  will 
again  call  to  prayer :    "Allahi  Ekber." 


IX 
A  NIGHT  IN  PERA 

C INCE  our  arrival  in  Constantinople  we  had 
heard  of  the  night  life  in  Pera  but  we  had  not 
seen  it  close  to.  Although  we  lived — out  of  neces- 
sity— in  Pera  during  the  first  months  of  our  re- 
turn, we  very  seldom  went  out.  In  the  Summer 
months  and  in  the  Fall  we  were  in  the  country 
and  since  we  had  settled  in  Stamboul  we  loved  too 
much  our  own  quiet  nights  at  home  to  seek  any- 
thing else.  But  when  my  friend,  Carayanni,  sug- 
gested showing  us  Pera  at  night  we  decided  that 
it  was  almost  our  duty  to  take  advantage  of 
this  opportunity  of  seeing  it  with  someone  who 
knew  the  place.  Since  the  armistice  Pera  is  so 
full  of  amusement  resorts  of  all  kinds  that  unless 
one  is  guided  by  an  "habitue"  one  is  apt  to  get 
lost  in  more  than  one  sense  of  the  word. 

I  think  that  I  have  already  said  that  Pera  is 
now  inhabited  by  almost  all  the  races  of  Europe 
with  the  exception  of  the  Turks.  The  Turks  have 
been  forced  out  of  this  quarter  and  are  certainly 
not  keen  to  reenter  it  under  its  present  conditions. 
Pera  shelters  all  the  foreigners  in  Constantinople, 
from  the  High  Commissioners  of  the  different  na- 

145 


146  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

tions  and  their  immediate  retinues  down  to  the 
worst  kind  of  adventurers.  And  of  course  there 
are  many  more  adventurers  than  High  Commis- 
sioners. Pera  shelters  most  of  the  Russian  refu- 
gees, from  poor  helpless  former  nobles  whose 
plight  is  a  real  disgrace  to  civilization  down  to 
the  most  resourcefully  immoral  individuals  of  both 
sexes  whose  behaviour  is  a  real  shame  to  human- 
ity. In  addition  Pera  shelters  all  the  Greeks  and 
Armenians  of  the  city  and  its  narrow,  crooked 
streets  are  the  playground  and  dwelling-place 
of  a  nondescript  people  which,  for  lack  of  better 
name,  people  have  agreed  to  call  "Levantines/' 

The  Levantine  is  the  parasite  of  the  Near  East. 
He  has  no  country,  no  scruples,  no  morals,  no 
honesty  of  any  sort — in  business  or  in  private 
life.  He  is  the  descendant  of  foreign  traders  who 
have  settled  in  the  Near  East  at  some  period  or 
other  and  have  intermingled — not  necessarily  in- 
termarried— with  Greeks  and  Armenians  or  other 
non-Turkish  elements  of  the  country.  His  ances- 
tors might  have  originally  come  to  the  Near  East 
either  attracted  by  the  proverbial  riches  of  the 
Orient — at  a  time  when  the  Orient  was  still  rich — 
or  as  runaways  from  the  justice  of  their  own  coun- 
try— no  one  knows.  As  foreigners  always  had 
certain  privileges  in  Turkey  the  present-day  Le- 
vantine calls  himself  a  foreigner  when  he  is  deal- 
ing with  the  Turks  or  with  Turkish  authorities. 
However,  when  he  is  dealing  with  foreigners  he 


A  NIGHT  IN  PERA  147 

is  very  apt  to  call  himself  a  Turk,  an  Armenian  or 
a  Greek.  Anyhow  he  never  will  call  himself  a 
Levantine,  so  stigmatized  is  that  appellation  in  the 
eyes  of  all  who  know  the  Near  East.  He  generally 
has  perfected  this  internationalism  to  such  a  de- 
gree that  he  has  citizenship  papers  or  passports  of 
different  countries  which  he  uses  indiscriminately 
according  to  his  wants  or  the  necessity  of  the 
moment.  But  despite  all  a  Levantine  is  and  re- 
mains a  Levantine  and  should  be  shunned  as 
such.  Anyone  who  is  from  the  Near  East  and 
calls  himself  a  non-Muslim  Turk  is  a  Levantine, 
and  almost  any  foreigner  who  admits  that  his 
family  has  been  living  in  the  Near  East  for  at 
least  two  generations  is  probably  also  a  Levan- 
tine. Anyhow  Pera  is  the  hot-bed  of  Levantines, 
who  have  lost  all  their  original  racial  qualities  and 
have  assimilated  all  the  racial  defects  of  all  the 
races  living  in  the  Near  East — whose  one  purpose 
is  to  make  and  spend  money  and  who  are  ready  to 
sell  anything  for  the  purpose. 

My  friend  Carayanni  is  not  a  Levantine.  He  is 
an  Ottoman  Greek.  Just  as  a  Scotchman  is  a 
British  subject,  so  Carayanni  is  a  Greek  but  a 
Turkish — or  Ottoman — subject,  and  is  supposed 
to  be  as  faithful  to  Turkey  as  the  Scotchman  is 
faithful  to  Great  Britain.  But  in  the  eyes  of  the 
world  Turkey  is  not  Great  Britain,  and  Carayanni 
is  a  Greek  and  everyone,  except  the  Turks,  seem 
to  consider  it  quite  natural  that  he  should  be  a 


148  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

Venizelist.  Foreigners  call  him  and  the  other 
Ottoman  Greeks  like  him  who  are  Venizelists 
"patriots,"  and  blame  the  Turks  for  not  loving 
them.  A  Venizelist  is  a  Greek  who  wants  the 
downfall  and  dismemberment  of  the  Ottoman  Em- 
pire, that  is  to  say  that  an  Ottoman  Greek  who  is 
a  Venizelist  is  de  juro  a  rebel,  a  traitor,  who  con- 
spires for  the  downfall  and  dismemberment  of  the 
Government  of  his  own  country.  When  the  Turks 
take  this  attitude  and  try  to  repress  this  intes- 
tinal strife  they  are  accused  of  committing  "atroci- 
ties." When  Great  Britain  or  any  other  Western 
Government  quells  with  machine  guns  and  hand- 
grenades  a  similar  intestinal  strife  in  their  own 
country,  they  are  said  to  make  a  legal  repression 
of  a  rebellious  or  revolutionary  movement.  Double 
standards  again. 

The  Venizelists  want  the  downfall  of  the  Otto- 
man Empire  so  that  Constantinople  may  become 
again  a  Greek  Byzance  as  it  was  over  five  cen- 
turies ago.  Just  because  a  city  originally  founded 
by  the  Romans  happened  to  be  Greek  thirty-nine 
years  before  Columbus  discovered  America,  Cara- 
yanni  and  all  the  Greeks  claim  now  that  it  should 
again  be  made  Greek.  They  call  themselves  Ven- 
izelists because  they  follow  the  principles  of 
Venizelos  who,  although  himself  an  Ottoman 
Greek,  turned  traitor  to  the  country  of  his  birth 
and  adoption  and  became  the  political  leader  of 
Greece  in  her  anti-Turkish  policy.     The  western 


A  NIGHT  IN  PERA  149 

powers  hailed  him  as  the  greatest  statesman  and 
diplomat  of  the  century  and  never  give  a  thought 
to  his  treason  or  to  the  weakness  of  his  claims. 

But  we  do  not  mind  the  Venizelism  of  Cara- 
yanni.  Like  most  of  the  higher-class  Greeks  he 
is  Venizelist  only  in  words,  and  he  is  too  well 
bred  to  talk  politics  when  he  is  with  Turks.  The 
higher-class  Greeks  are  not  Venizelists  enough 
to  don  the  Greek  uniform.  They  know  that  if  they 
did  don  it  they  might  be  sent  to  battle,  and  battles 
against  the  Turks  are  not  very  safe.  Why  should 
they  risk  their  lives,  why  should  they  suffer  the  dis- 
comforts of  following  a  military  campaign — even 
at  a  safe  distance  from  the  front?  They  know 
that  by  a  cunning  and  insidious  propaganda  they 
can  get  all  the  desired  support  from  foreign  na- 
tions. To  obtain  the  sympathy  and  the  moral 
support  of  certain  nations  which,  like  America,  are 
imbued  with  the  spirit  of  fair  play,  some  of  their 
women  write  sweet  articles  where  the  keynote  is  the 
lovableness  of  the  Turks  individually,  their  inno- 
cence, their  dearness  and  their  romanticism  cun- 
ningly interwoven  with  stories — supposed  to  be 
personal  experiences — which  emphasize  in  descrip- 
tions if  not  in  words,  the  ignorance  of  the  Turks, 
their  administrative  or  business  incapacity,  how 
they  still  practise  slavery  and  polygamy,  and  how 
they  commit  political  murders  and  atrocities.  The 
broadminded  but  misinformed  public  believes  in 
these  camouflaged  false  accusations  because  of  the 


150  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

hypocritical  profession  of  love  interwoven  with 
them  and  gives  more  than  ever  its  entire  sympathy 
and  moral  support  to  the  Greeks.  To  obtain  the 
active  support  of  less  broadminded  nations,  to 
secure  from  them  all  the  modern  war  parapher- 
nalia and  all  the  money  necessary  to  equip  and 
hold  under  colours,  against  their  will,  the  lower- 
class  Greeks  who  are  good  enough  for  "cannon 
fodder,"  the  Venizelists  lead  in  some  other  coun- 
tries a  bolder,  and  therefore  more  commendable 
propaganda.  In  this  way  they  are  sure  to  obtain 
the  moral  and  material  support  they  want  without 
much  risk.  The  upper-class  Greeks  like  to  play 
safe:  the  only  battles  they  fight  are  in  their 
clubs  and  around  the  green  table  of  diplomacy, 
and  the  most  deadly  weapon  they  use  is  their 
tongue — which  is  a  pretty  deadly  weapon  at  that! 
So  they  continue,  day  in  and  day  out,  to  endeavour 
to  Byzantinize  Constantinople  and,  while  happily 
they  have  not  succeeded  in  the  whole  city,  their 
efforts  have  been — for  all  practical  purposes — 
crowned  with  success  in  Pera.  In  the  old  days 
Pera  was  more  than  half  Turkish.  To-day  scarcely 
one  out  of  every  fifteen  people  you  see  in  its 
streets  is  a  real  Turk.  At  the  armistice  all  the 
non-Turkish  elements  have  been  given  a  free  hand 
in  this  part  of  the  city  by  the  Inter-Allied  police, 
and  rather  than  submit  to  the  arrogance  of  the 
Armenians  and  to  the  hostility  of  the  Greek  mobs, 
rather    than    witness    the    general    debauche,    the 


A  NIGHT  IN  PERA  1ST 

Turks  have  withdrawn  to  Stamboul  or  to  the 
heights  of  Nishantashe.  A  Turk  does  not  feel 
properly  protected  in  Pera.  He  feels  that  he 
would  get  little  protection  from  an  Inter-Allied 
policeman  if  it  came  to  a  litigation  with  a  for- 
eigner, and  only  a  very  few  Turkish  policemen 
are  now  employed  in  Pera  where  their  exclusive 
duty  is  to  regulate  traffic. 

So  Pera  has  become,  under  the  benevolent  eye 
of  its  Inter-Allied  police,  the  heaven  of  Greeks 
and  Levantines  and  Carayanni,  being  a  Greek, 
lives  in  Pera  and  knows  it  from  A  to  Z.  He  has 
invited  us  to  dinner,  and  as  we  know  that  he  will 
not  talk  politics,  as  we  want  to  see  Pera  at  night, 
and  as  we  could  not  find  a  better  guide  for  the 
purpose,  we  have  accepted  his  invitation. 

One  dines  very  late  in  Pera  and  when  we  start 
on  our  trip  of  exploration  it  is  already  night. 
We  left  home  well  after  eight/  On  our  way  to 
meet  Carayanni  we  had  to  pass  through  Galata, 
which  shelters  behind  its  fagade  of  business  re- 
spectability sordid  back  streets  patronized  by 
sailors  of  the  international  merchant  and  military 
navies  now  crowding  the  harbour.  While  banks 
and  office  buildings  in  the  main  street  are  closed 
at  this  late  hour  we  have  glimpses  of  side  streets 
which  would  make  the  Barbary  Coast  of  San 
Francisco  blush  with  envy.  Intoxicated  sailors 
rock  from  side  to  side  and  disappear  in  little 
streets  where  organs  grind  their  nasal  notes  of 


152  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

antiquated  French,  Italian,  yes,  even  American 
popular  songs  and  where  harsh  feminine  voices 
greet  prospective  friends  in  an  international  ver- 
nacular. A  foreign  sailor,  more  intoxicated  and 
more  excited  than  the  others,  jumps  on  the  run- 
ning board  of  our  carriage.  It  is  a  good  thing 
that  the  top  is  up,  as  in  the  darkness  he  does  not 
see  that  I  am  a  Turk  and  when  I  push  him  and 
shout  in  English  for  him  to  get  out  he  obeys  with- 
out a  sound,  probably  thinking  that  I  am  an  Eng- 
lishman or  an  American  who  could  get  protection 
from  the  police. 

My  wife  is  frightened,  but  the  really  dangerous 
part  of  our  route  is  nearly  over.  We  are  leaving 
Galata  behind.  Our  carriage  climbs  the  hill  of 
Pera  and  soon  we  pass  before  the  Pera  Palace, 
the  leading  hotel  of  Constantinople,  now  owned 
by  a  Greek,  where  foreign  officers  and  business 
men  are  feted  by  unscrupulous  Levantine  adven- 
turers and  drink  and  dance  with  fallen  Russian 
princesses  or  with  Greek  and  Armenian  girls 
whose  morals  are,  to  say  the  least,  as  light  as  their 
flimsy  gowns.  Right  next  to  the  hotel  is  the 
"Petits  Champs,,  Garden  where  soliciting  by  both 
male  and  female  pleasure-seekers  is  now  so  ag- 
gressively indulged  in  that  not  even  a  self-respect- 
ing man  dares  any  more  to  venture  in  the  place. 

The  streets  are  also  full  of  pleasure-seekers, 
but  at  this  hour  they  are  not  yet  as  aggressive 
as    in    the    Garden.      They    walk    slowly    eyeing 


A  NIGHT  IN  PERA  153 

each  other  with  greedy  or  inviting  glances. 
Among  them  hundreds  of  Russian  refugees,  dere- 
licts of  modern  civilization,  are  drifting  sadly,  their 
emaciated  bodies  clothed  in  rags.  Maimed  men  in 
old  uniforms — on  which  you  can  still  detect  the 
insignias  of  the  high  ranks  they  obtained  on  the 
battlefields  when  they  were  fighting  to  make  the 
world  safe  for  democracy — are  now  peddling 
little  wooden  toys  or  artificial  flowers  which 
they  try  to  sell  to  passers-by.  Old  women — and 
also  a  few  young  ones  who  prefer  to  be 
street  vendors  rather  than  street  walkers — are 
selling  candies  and  newspapers.  At  one  corner  a 
sad  young  woman,  who  will  be  a  mother  soon, 
holds  in  her  hand  a  bunch  of  multi-coloured  toy 
balloons.  She  is  so  tired  that  she  leans  against 
the  wall  and  can  hardly  move  her  hand  to  offer 
her  balloons  for  sale.  Huddled  on  the  curb  and 
in  porch-ways,  little  children  shivering  from  hun- 
ger and  from  cold,  are  begging  or  trying  to  snatch 
a  few  minutes'  sleep  before  the  Inter-Allied  police 
come  and  tell  them  to  move  on.  Fourteen  or 
fifteen-year-old  little  girls  are  parading  arm  in 
arm  and  patently  offering  their  youthfulness  in 
competition  with  the  experienced  knowledge  of 
their  elder  sisters.  Prostitution,  dishonesty,  mis- 
ery and  drunkenness  are  openly  flaunted  in  this 
section  of  the  city  which  revives  all  the  vices  of 
Byzance  coupled  with  those  of  Sodom. 

And  all  this  under  the  very  eyes  of  the  Inter- 


154  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

Allied  police  who  have  occupied  the  city  in  the 
name  of  civilization  and  to  enforce  order  and  law. 
Never  before  were  Pera  and  Galata  as  disreputa- 
ble as  now,  never  before  were  they  so  unsafe,  so 
objectionable  and  so  badly  policed;  the  Inter-Allied 
police  professes  that  it  does  not  care  to  mix  in 
matters  that  have  no  direct  bearing  on  politics, 
and  the  Turkish  police  has  had  its  authority  com- 
pletely taken  away  in  this  section  of  the  city. 

At  last,  through  this  repulsive  maze  of  vice, 
we  arrive  at  the  Russian  restaurant  where  we  are 
to  meet  Carayanni.  Pera  is  now  full  of  Russian 
restaurants,  where  a  money-spending  international 
crowd  revels  in  so-called  Bohemian  life.  Why 
not?  The  walls  are  artistically  painted  and  the 
furniture  queer  looking  enough.  Of  course,  like 
most  amateur  Bohemians,  the  only  thing  which 
this  international  crowd  has  adopted  from  the 
Quartier  Latin  of  Paris  is  free  love.  Anyhow, 
with  the  punctuality  of  a  perfect  host,  Carayanni 
is  waiting  for  us.  Well  groomed  and  prosperous- 
looking  in  his  dapper  London-made  clothes,  he 
is  trying  his  best  to  look  and  act  like  an  English- 
man. His  polite  nonchalance  and  his  general  ap- 
pearance are  so  perfect  that,  despite  his  dark  com- 
plexion, it  is  hard  for  me  to  realize  that  this 
is  the  same  man  who,  before  I  left  Constantinople 
about  ten  years  ago,  was  making  only  a  very 
modest  living  in  gambling  and  card  games  in 
which  he  always  was  an  expert.    He  has  changed 


A  NIGHT  IN  PERA  155 

his  business,  however,  during  the  war  and  is  now 
one  of  the  most  successful  food  speculators  in 
town. 

Carayanni  has  a  special  table  prepared  right 
near  the  center  of  the  room  and  on  our  way  to  the 
table  he  stops  to  greet  the  waitresses  and  to  grace- 
fully kiss  their  hands.  Most  of  these  girls  are 
supposed  to  belong  to  the  Russian  nobility,  so  in 
Pera  it  has  become  the  custom  to  kiss  the  hand 
that  feeds  you.  We  take  our  seats  and  glance 
about  the  room.  As  a  whole  the  place  is  almost 
respectable.  The  crowd  is  the  usual  mixture  seen 
now  at  night  in  Pera:  mostly  olive-skinned,  thick- 
lipped,  dissipated  Armenians  and  Greeks  who  can 
afford  high-priced  restaurants,  thanks  to  their 
unscrupulous  war  and  post-war  profiteering;  many 
foreigners  who  can  the  better  afford  to  spend  in 
view  of  the  low  rate  of  exchange  of  the  Turkish 
money;  a  few  Americans  who  love  to  indulge  in 
foreign  countries  in  pleasures  forbidden  to  them 
in  their  own  either  by  puritanic  traditions  or  by 
the  eighteenth  amendment.  The  food  is  excel- 
lent; we  have  a  taste  of  "vodka,"  the  Russian 
drink,  while  at  other  tables  imported  and  local 
wines  of  rare  vintage  are  consumed  copiously. 
The  professional  entertainment  provided  consists 
of  an  excellent  gypsy  orchestra,  the  best  I  have 
heard  anywhere,  a  few  singers  who  sing  some 
weird  Russian  songs  and  an  interpretative  dancer 
who  interprets  better  than   she  dances.     In  be- 


156  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

tween  the  professional  numbers  those  who  desire 
to  dance  can  do  so  in  the  middle  of  the  room 
which  remains  cleared  for  the  purpose.  After 
all,  it  is  the  same  kind  of  cabaret  restaurant  that 
one  finds  in  London,  Paris  or  New  York,  except 
that  its  performers  are  Russian,  its  waitresses  are 
supposed  to  be  princesses  and  its  crowd  is  a  little 
more  "Bohemian." 

Of  course  Carayanni  finds  it  too  slow  and  as 
we  are  finishing  dinner  he  suggests  that  we  go 
to  a  show.  At  one  theater  the  Greeks  are  giving 
a  performance  for  the  benefit  of  their  refugees 
and  at  another  the  Turks  are  giving  a  perform- 
ance for  the  benefit  of  their  refugees  and  as  our 
party  to-night  is  both  Turkish  and  Greek  we  must 
not  hurt  the  feelings  of  each  other  by  going 
to  either  of  these  shows.  Carayanni  suggests 
adjourning  to  a  certain  "club"  which  is  the  rage 
pi  the  moment  and  where  plays  and  actors  are 
so  —  "unreserved,"  that  the  public  is  required 
to  wear  masks.  Naturally  I  object  to  this  sug- 
gestion: my  wife  and  I  are,  so  to  speak,  provin- 
cials from  Stamboul  and  our  blushes  would  glow 
even  through  our  masks.  My  wife  is  so  shocked 
that  Carayanni  is  sorry  to  have  ever  suggested  it 
and  he  proposes  hastily  to  go  to  see  Scheherazade 
which  is  played  by  some  of  the  former  actors  of  the 
imperial  ballet  corps  of  Petrograd.  We  all  decide 
in  favour  of  this  and  we  adjourn  to  the  theater. 

The  play  has  already  started.    Here  again  there 


A  NIGHT  IN  PERA  157 

are  only  a  very  few  Turks  in  the  audience  and 
their  presence  seems  to  me  as  incongruous  as 
mine  must  seem  to  them.  It  is  queer  to  see  the 
place  crowded  with  foreigners  when  but  a  few 
years  ago  the  crowds  in  theaters  were  almost 
exclusively  Turkish.  I  remember  that  one  of  the 
last  times  I  came  to  this  very  theater  it  was  to 
assist  at  a  gala  performance  given  by  the  Munici- 
pality of  Constantinople  in  honour  of  the  Young 
Turkish  leaders  who  had  just  then  so  success- 
fully accomplished  their  democratic  revolution. 
The  place  was  then  covered  with  Turkish  flags 
and  humming  with  Turkish  enthusiasm.  To-day 
it  is  almost  entirely  Russian.  Really,  the  dream 
of  Peter  the  Great  of  making  a  Russian  city  of 
Constantinople  has  partly  come  true,  but  it  has 
turned  into  a  nightmare.  I  whisper  this  to  my 
wife  and,  unknown  to  Carayanni,  we  both  express 
the  wish  that  any  one  who  might  nourish  the 
ambition  of  taking  Constantinople  away  from 
the  Turks  might  share  a  plight  similar  to  that  of 
the  Russians.  It  is  not  generous,  I  admit  it,  but 
if  we  were  not  Turks  and  formed  the  same  wish 
for  the  enemies  of  our  country,  people  would  call 
us  patriots. 

The  performance  is  pretty  good  but  it  drags 
on.  Scheherazade  is  a  spectacular  play  and  neither 
the  theater  nor  its  staging  are  adapted  to  such 
plays.  The  actors  might  have  been  in  the  Im- 
perial Ballet  of  Petrograd  but  they  certainlv  were 


i58  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

not  principals.  So  we  decide  to  leave  before  the 
performance  is  over.  This  time  Carayanni  insists 
that  we  go  to  a  regular  cafe  chantant.  He  will 
take  us  to  the  best  one;  it  is  an  open-air  affair 
but  the  weather  is  really  not  so  cool  to-night  as  to 
make  it  disagreeable.  We  have  to  take  a  carriage 
as  it  is  at  some  distance,  on  the  hills  of  Shishli. 
This  cafe  chantant  is  in  a  garden.  In  the  center, 
where  orchestra  seats  should  be,  are  small  tables, 
with  chairs  in  semi-circle  facing  the  stage.  It 
is  a  regular  theater  stage  and  on  both  sides  of 
the  garden,  boxes  have  been  built.  It  is  crowded. 
Every  one  seems  to  be  intoxicated  and  the  weird 
music  of  a  regular  jazz  band  composed  of  genu- 
ine American  negroes  fires  the  blood  of  the  rollick- 
ing crowd  to  demonstrations  unknown  even  to  the 
Bowery  in  its  most  flourishing  days  before  the 
Volstead  Act.  Much  bejewelled  and  rouged 
"noble"  waitresses  sit,  drink  and  smoke  at  the 
tables  of  their  own  clients.  The  proprietor  of 
the  place,  an  American  coloured  man  who  was 
established  in  Russia  before  the  Bolshevik  revolu- 
tion and  who — it  seems — protected  and  helped 
most  efficiently  some  British  and  American  officers 
and  relief  workers  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution, 
is  watching  the  crowd  in  a  rather  aloof  manner. 
Frankly  he  seems  to  me  more  human  than  his 
clients;  at  least  he  is  sober  and  acts  with  con- 
sideration and  politeness,  which  is  not  the  case 
with  most  of  the  people  who  are  here.     Not  one 


A  NIGHT  IN  PERA  159 

real  Turk  is  in  sight.  Many  foreigners,  but 
mostly  Greeks,  Armenians  and  Levantines — with 
dissipated  puffed-up  faces,  greedy  of  pleasure  and 
materialism.  We  have  a  liqueur.  The  show  is 
a  vaudeville  which  is  not  very  interesting.  Every 
minute  that  passes  makes  the  crowd  more  and 
more  demonstrative.  Carayanni  is  enjoying  it 
immensely,  but  I  realize  that  our  presence  puts 
a  damper  on  his  good  time  and  although  he  de- 
fends himself  in  the  most  exquisite  manner  when 
I  tease  him  about  it  and  accuse  him  of  being 
evidently  an  "habitue"  of  the  place,  the  glances 
that  he  exchanges  surreptitiously  with  one  of  the 
waitresses — a  real  Russian  beauty  with  pale  skin, 
fire-red  lips  and  languid  black  eyes — confirm  my 
suspicions.  My  wife  does  not  enjoy  herself,  and 
she  is  tired:  our  life  in  Stamboul  has  evidently 
made  her  lose  her  taste  for  late  hours.  Be- 
sides she  has  never  seen  this  kind  of  night  life 
anywhere  and  the  atmosphere  is  getting  decidedly 
too  tense  for  us.  A  "parti  carree"  enters  a  box 
— and  immediately  pulls  the  curtain,  thus  cut- 
ting itself  entirely  from  the  view  of  the  public. 
My  wife  looks  at  me  in  surprise.  We  really 
must  go. 

It  is  too  early  for  Carryanni,  the  night  has  just 
started  for  him  and  for  the  other  regular  Perotes. 
So  we  insist  that  he  should  not  spoil  his  evening 
and  we  apologise  for  our  departure.  He  is  heart- 
broken to  see  us  go  but  asks  permission  to  remain, 


160  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

protesting  that  he  has  some  very  important  busi- 
ness matters  to  talk  over  with  a  friend  of  his 
whom  he  has  just  seen  in  the  crowd.  We  under- 
stand perfectly  well   and  take   our  leave. 

We  step  out  of  the  gay  garden.  At  the  curb 
a  long  line  of  automobiles  is  waiting.  We  take 
one  as  it  will  get  us  home  quicker  than  a  carriage. 
Besides,  the  streets  of  Pera,  and  especially  of 
Galata,  are  not  very  safe  at  this  late  hour,  and 
the  quicker  one  rushes  through  them  the  better. 

Pera  is  tossing  in  her  sleep,  nervous  and  rest- 
less. A  few  night-owls  of  both  sexes  who  evi- 
dently have  not  yet  been  able  to  find  a  branch  to 
their  liking  are  still  wandering  on  the  sidewalks. 
The  porches  and  doorways  of  nearly  every  house 
are  crowded  with  groups  of  children  and  refugees, 
half-naked,  sleeping  cuddled  up  together  to  keep 
warm.  In  restaurants  and  amusement  places  the 
merry-makers  are  continuing  their  revels. 

Galata  again,  her  narrow  streets  still  lit  up  and 
still  resounding  with  sinister  noises.  Now  the 
bridge,  almost  deserted,  and  then  at  last  Stamboul, 
our  Stamboul,  the  beautiful  Turkish  city,  sleeping 
in  the  night  the  sleep  of  the  just;  poor  Stamboul, 
ruined  by  fires  and  by  wars,  sad  in  her  misery, 
but  decent  and  noble ;  a  dethroned  queen  dreaming 
of  her  past  splendour  and  trusting  in  her  future. 


X 

CONSTANTINOPLE,    1922 

npHE  night  life  in  Pera  sketched  in  the  past 
chapter  constitutes,  naturally,  only  one  aspect 
of  the  present-day  so-called  social  life  of  Constan- 
tinople. In  full  justice  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
city  I  must  say  that  it  is  only  the  "Perotes,"  that 
is,  only  those  who  inhabit  Pera — be  they  for- 
eigners, Greeks,  Armenians  or  Levantines — who 
find  pleasure  in  this  kind  of  distraction.  The 
people  of  Stamboul  lead  the  quiet  life  which  I 
have  already  described.  And  in  between  these  two 
extremes  there  are,  of  course,  quite  a  large  num- 
ber of  foreigners,  of  Turks  and  of  non-Turks 
who  do  not  participate  in  this  kind  of  life  but 
who  nevertheless  seek  distraction  in  the  society 
of  each  other  in  a  more  rational  and  decent  way 
than  the  Perotes — if  not  quite  as  sedate  as  their 
friends  of  Stamboul. 

Pera  is  the  theatrical  and  the  red  light  district 
of  the  city.  Stamboul  is  the  residential  district 
of  the  more  conservative  Turks,  that  is  to  say,  the 
Turks  who  are  modern  enough  to  set  aside  all 

the  antiquated  customs  of  their  ancestors  who— 

161 


162  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

by  preventing  their  women  from  participating  in 
the  every-day  life,  had  handicapped  the  social 
progress  of  the  race — but  who  are  not  and  do 
not  care  to  be  modern  to  the  point  of  adopting 
indiscriminately  all  the  social  customs,  good  and 
bad,  of  the  Occident.  Fortunately  for  Turkey, 
the  Turks  who  belong  to  this  group  constitute 
the  greatest  majority.  They  are  serious-minded 
people,  progressive  without  exaggeration,  desirous 
of  adapting  to  their  own  temperament  and  cus- 
toms only  those  foreign  customs  which  are  de- 
sirable. They  do  not  seek  to  imitate  blindly 
western  nations.  They  do  not  care  to  be  over- 
westernized.  These  Turks  realize  that  with  all 
its  superiority  over  the  Oriental  structure,  the 
social  structure  of  the  West  is  far  from  being  per- 
fect, and  they  do  not  propose  to  introduce  and 
adopt  customs  which  either  might  be  incompati- 
ble with  their  temperaments  and  traditions  or 
which  have  been  and  are  strongly  criticized  by 
well-thinking  people  even  in  western  countries. 

Besides  Pera  and  Stamboul,  the  two  opposite 
poles,  there  is  another  district  of  the  city  where 
certain  foreigners  live  and  some  native  non-Turks, 
and  quite  a  few  Turks  who  do  not  mind  over- 
westernization.  This  district  comprises  the  quar- 
ters of  Taxim  and  Shishli  and  a  certain  portion  of 
Nishantashe.  It  is  situated  on  the  hills  north  of 
Pera  and  is  considered  by  some  to  be  the  modern 
residential  section  of  the  city.     For  those  who 


CONSTANTINOPLE,  1922  163 

really  love  Turkey  and  the  Turks  or  even  for 
those  who  are  only  interested  in  the  Orient  it  has, 
however,  not  much  charm  or  attraction.  Modern 
apartment  houses  and  new  residences  built  in  con- 
crete or  in  stone,  but  which  have  no  distinctive 
character,  adorn  its  wide  avenues  and  its  smaller 
streets.  The  architecture  here  has  no  individual- 
ity whatsoever,  judging  by  the  external  appear- 
ances of  the  buildings  and  by  the  aspect  of  the 
avenues  and  streets,  with  electric  street  cars  run- 
ning, with  automobiles  and  modern  garages  one 
might  be  in  any  city  of  Europe.  All  speak  of 
modernism  and  those  who  inhabit  it  worship  any- 
thing that  has  the  stamp  of  western  civilization. 
However,  if  one  desires  to  lead  any  kind  of  social 
life  comparable  to  that  of  western  countries  one 
has  to  come  to  this  district  and  one  has  to  identify 
oneself  with  the  social  clique  which  dwells  in  it. 

So,  as  my  wife  and  I  are  both  human,  as  we 
are  still  young  and  desire  once  in  a  while  some 
kind  of  mundane  distraction,  we  have  had  to 
frequent — if  not  extensively  at  least  moderately — 
this  section  of  Constantinople.  One  glimpse  of  a 
night  in  Pera  had  been  sufficient  to  make  us 
realize  the  necessity  of  finding  other  playgrounds. 
We  had  to  break,  once  in  a  while,  from  the  quiet, 
peaceful  and  elevating  life  of  Stamboul  if  it  were 
only  to  make  us  appreciate  more  our  normal  home 
life. 

Shortly  after  we  had  settled  in  our  house  a 


164  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

cousin  of  mine  who  lives  in  Shishli  gave  an  after- 
noon tea  to  introduce  us  to  his  set.  He  is  a  promi- 
nent business  man  of  Constantinople,  and  both 
his  own  position  as  well  as  the  prominence  of  his 
family  have  placed  him  and  his  charming  wife 
among  the  leaders  of  the  Turkish  social  set  of 
Shishli.  They  have  an  attractive  house  on  one  of 
the  principle  avenues  and  entertain  frequently. 
His  wife,  like  all  the  Turkish  ladies  of  her  set,  has 
a  weekly  "at  home.,,  On  these  days  one  is  sure 
to  find  a  large  crowd  of  callers  in  her  salons. 
She  is  a  perfectly  charming  woman,  very  young 
and  beautiful.  Her  beauty  is  typically  Turkish, 
tall  and  slender  although  not  emaciated,  languid 
black  eyes  with  long  eyelashes.  She  dresses 
exquisitely  as  she  buys  most  of  her  frocks  in  Paris 
where  she  goes  periodically  to  renew  her  ward- 
robe. At  the  time  they  gave  the  afternoon  tea 
in  our  honour  they  had  just  refurnished  their 
house  with  furniture  purchased  on  their  last  trip 
to  Italy  and  France.  It  was  the  first  tea  of 
the  season  and  my  cousin  and  his  wife  told  us 
that  all  their  friends  were  very  anxious  to  meet 
us.  As  theirs  is  a  dancing  set  the  news  that  a 
Turk,  freshly  landed  from  America  with  his 
American  wife,  would  be  present  at  the  tea 
had  created  quite  a  sensation;  they  were  all 
keen  to  see  the  latest  steps  danced  in  the  States. 
The  dancing  reputation  of  the  Americans  is  world- 
wide and  the  fact  that  my  wife  was  an  Ameri- 


CONSTANTINOPLE,  1922  165 

can  had  stirred  the  interest  of  my  cousins'  friends. 
As  for  me,  they  imagined  that  any  one  who  had 
lived  in  America  for  such  a  long  time  must  of 
necessity  be  a  good  dancer.  Only  a  very  few  of  the 
members  of  this  set  were  known  to  me,  and  that 
very  superficially,  as  I  had  met  them  as  small  chil- 
dren when  I  had  previously  been  in  Constanti- 
nople. Now  most  of  them  were  married  and  had 
children  of  their  own.  So  when  we  arrived  at 
my  cousin's  house  we  had  to  be  introduced  to 
every  one.  My  cousin,  Salih  Zia  Bey,  and  his 
wife,  Madame  Zia  Bey,  did  the  honours  in  that 
most  exquisite  modern  Turkish  fashion  which, 
despite  all  its  westernization,  has  still  kept  some- 
thing of  the  ceremony  characteristic  of  the  old 
Turkey. 

We  were  ushered  in  by  a  tiny  Javanese  maid. 
The  drawing-room  was  crowded.  Both  my  wife 
and  myself  felt  the  strain  of  being  the  guests  of 
honour.  We  were  somewhat  conscious  that  we 
had  to  live  up  to  the  expectation  of  our  new 
friends  and  try  not  to  disappoint  them  too  much 
with  our  terpsichorean  abilities.  Madame  Zia  Bey 
received  us  at  the  tea-table,  which  was  really  a 
sort  of  large  buffet  piled  with  delicious  pastries, 
cakes,  sandwiches  and  biscuits  of  all  kinds.  Tea, 
coffee  or  a  delicious  punch  were  served  according 
to  the  taste  of  the  guests.  It  was  as  elaborate 
as  the  cold  supper  buffets  one  sees  in  America 
at  large  dances. 


166  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

Madame  Zia  Bey,  her  sister-in-law  and  two 
other  young  ladies  who  were  helping  the  hostess 
to  serve,  were  the  only  ones  who  did  not  have  the 
"charshaf" — all  the  other  ladies  wore  this  most 
becoming  headgear  which  is  made  of  the  same 
material  as  the  dress  and  fits  tightly  around  the 
head,  while  its  two  flowing  ends,  which  enclose  the 
shoulders  when  the  ladies  are  in  the  street,  hang 
loosely  behind  them  when  they  are  in  the  house. 
Over  the  head  a  flimsy  veil — generally  some  pre- 
cious lace — is  thrown  backwards  at  a  rakish  angle 
and  frames  the  face,  which  remains  entirely  un- 
covered, in  a  softening  cloud.  After  serving  us 
with  some  tea  and  cakes,  Madame  Zia  Bey  passed 
us  on  to  her  husband  who,  one  by  one  as  the  occa- 
sion arose,  introduced  us  to  the  guests.  Later 
the  introductions  were  finished  by  Madame  Zia 
Bey  who  joined  us  after  she  had  served  all  her 
guests  at  the  tea-table. 

We  were  glad  to  see  a  few  of  our  friends  from 
Prinkipo  and  the  Bosphorus  but  the  majority  of 
the  guests  were,  of  course,  new  to  us.  There  were 
two  young  men,  two  brothers,  who  were  intro- 
duced to  us  as  the  two  "tango  champions"  of  the 
set.  I  must  say  that  they  are  very  nice  young 
boys  and,  despite  the  fact  that  they  dance  most 
exquisitely,  they  are  not  at  all  the  type  of  danc- 
ing men  one  meets  elsewhere.  Their  sister  was 
also  there,  with  her  fiance.  I  wished  that  some 
of  my  American  friends  who  absolutely  refused  to 


CONSTANTINOPLE,  1922  167 

believe  that  the  custom  of  arranging  marriages  be- 
tween girls  and  boys  who  had  not  previously  met 
was  a  thing  of  the  past  in  Turkey  could  have 
seen  this  couple.  Mademoiselle  Rashid  Bey  and 
her  fiance  had  known  each  other  for  some  time 
and  their  marriage  was  the  result  of  a  genuine 
romance  in  which  no  outsider  had  interfered. 

There  were  only  two  or  three  foreigners  among 
the  guests,  and  the  most  prominent  of  them  was 
the  Japanese  Ambassador,  who  is  quite  popular 
in  the  social  circles  of  Constantinople.  The  Italian 
military  attache  was  also  present  as  well  as  a 
French  officer.  A  Greek  lady  whose  husband  is 
one  of  the  very  few  prominent  Greeks  who  have 
remained  openly  faithful  to  the  cause  of  Turkey 
was  also  there.  Needless  to  say  that  she  and  her 
husband  are  very  much  liked  by  the  Turks  who 
recognize  their  real  friends  and  show  them  true 
gratitude  under  all  circumstances.  The  rest  of 
the  crowd  was  exclusively  Turkish,  all  most  at- 
tractive and  genuinely  refined  people  who  had 
kept,  despite  their  extreme  westernization,  the 
good  manners  and  the  good  breeding  character- 
istic of  their  race. 

When  everybody  had  duly  partaken  of  the 
delicacies  and  refreshments  offered  at  the  tea- 
table,  we  adjourned — with  the  slight  touch  of 
ceremony  prevailing  in  all  Turkish  gatherings — 
to  two  spacious  drawing-rooms  on  the  same  floor. 
And,  as  we  expected,  the  informal  dancing  started 


i68  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

to  the  sound  of  a  gramaphone  of  the  latest  model 
imported  from  America.  It  was  a  surprise  for  us 
to  see  how  extremely  up  to  date  everybody  was. 
Charming  Turkish  girls  were  dancing  the  newest 
steps  as  expertly  as  debutantes  of  New  York, 
London  and  Paris — with  a  little  more  decorum, 
perhaps,  and  certainly  with  less  "abandon,"  but 
that  did  not  in  any  way  hurt  the  effect.  Quite  on 
the  contrary  it  gave  to  modern  dances  a  degree  of 
respectability  which  is  not  always  found  in  the 
West. 

One  other  difference  that  we  found  was  that  the 
tango  still  reigned  supreme  here.  It  was  played 
at  least  seven  or  eight  times  during  the  evening. 
But  after  seeing  the  excellence  with  which  every- 
body danced  it  my  wife  and  I  were  quite  reluc- 
tant to  give  a  demonstration  of  our  own  limited 
abilities.  We  had  to  immolate  ourselves,  how- 
ever, and  although  we  did  our  best  to  come  up  to 
expectation,  I  am  not  quite  certain  that  we  entirely 
succeeded.  Of  course  I  had  to  explain  that  I 
should  not  be  personally  taken  as  an  exponent  of 
the  American  art  as  I  was  not  and  never  had  been 
an  expert  in  dancing.  My  wife  saved  the  day  for 
America  by  tangoing  with  the  real  experts  as  per- 
fectly as  only  an  American  girl  can. 

This  tea-party  at  my  cousin's  was  our  first  ex- 
perience of  Turkish  social  life.  It  was  to  be  fol- 
lowed by  many  others  during  the  winter.  As 
I  have  said  before,  all  Turkish  ladies  belonging 


CONSTANTINOPLE,  1922  169 

to  this  set  have  a  day  at  home  every  week  and 
if  one  cares  to  go  out  extensively  one  has  some- 
where to  go  practically  every  day.  While  we  did 
not  indulge  in  daily  social  activities  this  gave  us 
the  opportunity  to  go  out  every  once  in  a  while — 
about  once  or  twice  a  week — which  afforded  us  a 
pleasant  change  from  our  more  serious  and  much 
quieter  life  of  Stamboul,  without  obliging  us  to 
seek  distraction  by  frequenting  even  at  long  in- 
tervals the  unhealthy  amusement  places  of  Pera. 
Thus  the  Turks  have  found  a  way  to  amuse 
themselves  among  their  own  people  exclusively 
and  while,  of  course,  some  foreigners  are  asked 
to  the  parties  of  these  small  Turkish  sets  it  is 
only  a  very  few  of  them — carefully  selected — who 
are  privileged  to  frequent  Turkish  society.  I  am 
ready  to  admit,  however,  that  to  my  mind  the  se- 
lection of  these  foreigners  should  be  done  even 
more  carefully  as  I  share  entirely  the  views  of  my 
aunt,  explained  in  one  of  my  former  chapters,  that 
the  foreigners  who  are  at  present  in  Constantinople 
are  not  as  a  whole  very  trustworthy  and  that  it  is 
very  difficult  to  distinguish  among  them  those  who 
can  be,  without  any  objection,  taken  within  our 
homes.  All  the  more  because  the  Turks  are 
racially  extremely  hospitable  and  they  are  there- 
fore apt  to  show  too  much  confidence  and  to  be- 
come too  intimate  with  those  they  take  in  their 
midst.  Many  other  races,  many  other  civilizations 
have  gone  down  just  because  of  their  pure  and 


170  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

unsuspecting  hospitality  toward  foreigners.  The 
Turks  cannot  be  blamed  for  their  present  attitude. 
In  fact,  if  they  are  at  all  to  blame  it  is  that  some 
of  them  are  even  too  careless  in  their  extreme 
desire  to  become  entirely  westernized  and  despite 
the  fact  that  I  consider  myself  extremely  liberal  in 
my  ideas  I  entirely  endorse  the  Turkish  National 
Assembly  of  Angora  for  remonstrating  periodi- 
cally with  the  Turkish  inhabitants  of  Constanti- 
nople for  mixing  too  freely  with  foreigners  and 
for  adopting  too  indiscriminately  their  customs. 
Right  in  the  middle  of  the  1 921-1922  season  the 
Turkish  papers  published  broadcast  such  a  remon- 
strance of  the  National  Assembly  and  although 
many  of  the  ill-disposed  foreign  newspapers  took 
advantage  of  this  to  harp  on  the  xenophoby  of 
the  Turks  ruling  in  Anatolia,  it  really  was  for  the 
purpose — very  justifiable  and  commendable — of 
reminding  the  people  of  Constantinople  that  they 
should  respect  and  honour  any  and  all  of  their 
national  traditions  which  did  not  hinder  the  con- 
tinued advance  of  the  nation  toward  progress  and 
real  civilization.  A  reminder  of  this  is  an  abso- 
lute necessity  and  has  to  be  uttered  periodically, 
as  the  people  of  Constantinople  live  at  present 
right  in  the  midst  of  every  kind  of  imported  vices 
and  immoralities  and  the  first  duty  of  a  nation 
for  the  protection  of  its  vitality  and  its  vigor  is 
to  see  that  the  virtue  of  its  people  is  not  con- 
taminated. 


CONSTANTINOPLE,  1922  171 

Naturally,  in  view  of  their  environment,  the 
Turks  of  Constantinople  are  in  danger.  The 
greatest  majority  of  them  have  so  far  escaped 
contamination  by  segregating  themselves  in  Stam- 
boul  and  in  Nishantashe  but  there  are  some  who 
need  to  be  called  to  attention  once  in  a  while  as 
the  temptations  in  their  path  are  too  great.  In 
justice  to  them  I  am  bound  to  say,  however,  that 
judging  by  what  I  have  seen  they  keep  their  mor- 
als and  virtues  unimpaired  despite  their  gay  and 
sometimes  rather  "advanced"  appearances.  But 
still  the  danger  is  there  and  a  periodical  warning 
is  a  very  good  measure. 

Most  of  the  Turkish  social  activities  and  enter- 
tainments are  held  in  the  evenings,  that  is,  from 
tea-time  to  about  dinner-time.  The  Turks,  even 
those  who  live  in  Shishli,  have  neither  the  means 
nor  the  heart  to  entertain  elaborately,  and  big 
dinners  or  official  receptions  or  dances  are  much 
too  elaborate  affairs  for  them  to  undertake.  So 
they  are  satisfied  with  tea-parties  with  dancing — 
tango-teas  they  are  called — such  as  the  one  given 
by  my  cousin.  The  evening  entertaining  is  done 
exclusively  by  the  foreign  diplomatic  missions 
and  by  some  prominent  foreign  business  men.  I 
am,  of  course,  talking  exclusively  of  social  enter- 
tainments which  are  refined  enough  for  the  Turks 
to  participate  in.  The  other  evening  entertain- 
ments offered  by  the  professionals  of  Pera  or  by 
the  doubtful  social  set  of  Perotes — Greeks,  Ar- 


172  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

menians  and  Levantines — are  not  taken  into  con- 
sideration. 

The  foreign  diplomatic  missions  give  once  in  a 
while  special  receptions  for  the  Turks  to  which 
are  also  invited  the  officials,  the  representatives 
and  the  nationals  of  the  countries  which  are,  if 
not  at  peace  at  least  not  at  open  war  against  the 
Turks.  For  instance,  at  any  of  the  receptions 
where  Turks  were  invited  Greek  officials  and  Greek 
nationals  would  shine  by  their  absence  and,  accord- 
ing to  the  wind  which  blows  over  Turco-British 
relations,  British  officials  were  absent  or  present  if 
the  latest  declaration  at  the  House  of  Commons 
was  to  the  effect  of  reinforcing  the  English  sup- 
port to  Greece  or  else  had  taken  the  colour  of  a 
revival  of  the  traditional  British  friendship  towards 
Turkey  and  the  Muslim  world.  The  shifts  in 
international  policy  make  the  official  social  life  in 
Constantinople  a  very  delicate  matter  indeed,  and 
the  host  or  hostess  who  plans  to  give  a  large  recep- 
tion and  is  obliged  to  make  the  necessary  prepa- 
rations considerably  beforehand  has  unquestion- 
ably a  very  hard  task,  as  no  one  can  foresee,  a 
few  days  in  advance,  what  the  prevailing  inter- 
national policy  will  be  on  the  day  the  reception 
is  given.  The  only  reception  that  I  know  of  which 
was  given  with  a  total  disregard  of  international 
relations  and  at  which  all  officials  and  prominent 
citizens  of  all  nations  were  invited  was  the  recep- 
tion given  at  the  Persian  Embassy  in  honour  of 


CONSTANTINOPLE,  1922  173 

the  Crown  Prince  of  Persia.  And  despite  all,  it 
was  the  most  successful  reception  of  the  season 
in  Constantinople. 

The  Crown  Prince  was  on  his  way  to  France 
and  was  to  stay  only  a  few  days  in  Constantinople 
so  that  the  Ambassador  could  not  possibly  give 
several  receptions  to  which  he  could  have  sepa- 
rately asked  the  different  warring  nations.  To 
ask  only  some  at  the  single  large  reception  he 
was  obliged  to  give  would  have  alienated  the 
friendship  of  all  those  who  had  not  been  invited. 
So  the  Persian  representative  bravely  decided  to 
ask  everybody  without  distinction  of  nationality 
and  without  regard  to  the  political  situation,  and 
let  events  take  their  course. 

Naturally,  events  were  powerfully  helped  by 
the  "savoir  faire"  and  the  courtesy  of  the  Per- 
sian representative  and  of  his  wife  who  were  so 
charming  and  hospitable  to  all  their  guests  that 
every  one  enjoyed  the  reception  most  thoroughly. 
Of  course  we  were  all  anticipating  with  much 
curiosity  the  experience  and  were  anxious  to  see 
how  it  would  turn  out.  The  Persian  Embassy 
is  in  Stamboul,  only  a  few  doors  from  our  home, 
and  the  fact  that  the  wife  of  the  representative 
was  an  American  and  that  we  knew  them  both 
in  America  had  established  most  cordial  friendly 
relations  between  them  and  ourselves.  So  we 
were  delighted  to  comply  with  the  request  of  Her 
Excellency  the  Khanoum,  who  asked  us  to  come 


174  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

early  so  as  to  be  present  when  her  first  guests 
arrived ;  and  soon  after  dinner  my  wife  and  I  made 
our  way  to  the  Embassy. 

The  Persian  mission  is  located  in  a  big  building 
which  had  been  repainted  for  the  occasion.  It  is 
in  the  center  of  a  large  garden  and  has  a  gor- 
geous view  of  the  Bosphorus  from  over  the  Sub- 
lime Porte.  Over  the  big  entrance  gate  of  the 
garden  it  has  the  Persian  emblem,  a  lion  and  a 
rising  sun.  The  garden  had  been  decorated  for 
the  occasion  with  flags  of  all  nations  and  multi- 
coloured lanterns,  while  on  a  mast  in  the  center 
floated  majestically  a  huge  Persian  standard. 
Concealed  among  the  trees  a  Turkish  Naval  Band, 
graciously  loaned  by  the  Navy  Department,  was 
playing  different  pieces  of  music.  Attendants  in 
Persian  uniforms  with  small  black  kolpaks  re- 
ceived, on  the  marble  steps  of  the  Embassy,  the 
arriving  guests.  We  were  among  the  first  to 
come  and  it  gave  us  an  opportunity  of  admiring 
the  rich  antique  Persian  carpets  with  which  the 
enormous  entrance  hall  had  been  decorated.  The 
whole  place  was  covered  with  shimmering  hang- 
ings, carpets  and  rugs  and  with  plants  and  rare 
flowers.  At  the  top  of  the  stairs  stood  the  Khan 
and  the  Khanoum  with  the  entire  staff  of  the 
Embassy,  all  in  uniform  and  decorations.  The 
Khanoum  wore  her  beautifully  embroidered  Per- 
sian court  gown  and  her  diamond  decorations  and 
greeted  us  with  the  ineffable  charm  which  has 


CONSTANTINOPLE,  1922  175 

won  for  her  the  hearts  of  all  who  have  met  her 
in  three  continents.  She  took  my  wife  by  the  hand 
and  brought  us  into  one  of  the  principal  salons 
from  where  we  could  have  a  view  of  the  gardens. 
She  informed  us  that  the  Crown  Prince  was  rest- 
ing in  his  private  apartment  on  the  floor  above, 
awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  principal  guests  to  hold 
his  court.  As  the  guests  were  now  arriving  the 
Khanoum  returned  to  the  head  of  the  stairs  to 
greet  them. 

From  where  we  were  we  could  also  see  the 
central  hall  where  a  special  dais  had  been  built 
to  serve  as  a  throne  for  the  Crown  Prince.  The 
guests  were  placed  in  the  different  drawing-rooms, 
according  to  their  individual  social  or  official  po- 
sition, the  most  important  ones  waiting  in  the  first 
drawing-room  and  the  others  in  the  drawing- 
rooms  behind.  Soon  the  Naval  Band  outside 
was  playing  the  different  national  anthems  of  the 
different  diplomatic  representatives  as  they  were 
coming  iri.  One  of  the  first  to  arrive  was  the 
British  High  Commissioner  and  his  wife  who  took 
their  place  right  at  the  door  of  the  drawing-room 
where  we  were  waiting.  After  a  few  minutes 
and  as  the  band  was  starting  the  Turkish  National 
Anthem,  which  indicated  that  the  personal  repre- 
sentative of  the  Sultan  and  of  the  Crown  Prince 
of  Turkey  had  arrived,  the  Persian  Crown  Prince 
came  in  and  took  his  place  under  the  dais  with  his 
brother  and  the  Khanoum  on  his  right  and  the 


176  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

Khan  and  the  Turkish  Grand  Master  of  Cere- 
monies on  his  left.  Every  one  stood  at  attention. 
The  Crown  Prince  is  a  young  man,  dark  and 
good  looking  with  a  small,  closely  clipped  black 
mustache.  He  looked  slim  and  tall  in  his  tight- 
fitting  long  black  court  dress,  and  appeared  that 
evening  somewhat  tired  and  nervous,  which  after 
all  was  quite  natural  considering  that  he  had 
just  arrived  from  a  very  long  and  tedious  trip 
across  the  Persian  deserts,  Bolshevik  Caucasia, 
and  the  Black  Sea  As  soon  as  he  had  taken  his 
place  the  Turkish  Mission  was  ushered  in  and 
I  am  frank  to  admit  that  I  was  proud  of  the  ap- 
pearance of  our  representatives.  The  Sultan  was 
represented  by  his  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
General  Izzet  Pasha,  an  imposing  man  of  about 
fifty,  with  gray  mustaches,  his  fez  slightly  tilted 
on  one  side  giving  a  martial  expression  to  his 
distinguished  and  refined  face.  The  Turkish 
Crown  Prince  was  represented  by  his  son,  Prince 
Omer  Farouk  Effendi,  an  athletic  young  man  in 
the  uniform  of  a  cavalry  lieutenant,  tall  and  well 
built,  blond  hair  and  blue  eyes.  They  were  both 
surrounded  with  young  officers  who  clicked  their 
heels  martially  when  they  were  being  introduced 
to  the  Persian  Crown  Prince.  After  the  Turkish 
Mission  the  foreign  missions  were  introduced  one 
by  one  according  to  the  seniority  of  their  respec- 
tive heads  and  when  the  British  Mission  had 
closed  the  official  train — the  British  High  Com- 


CONSTANTINOPLE,  1922  177 

missioner  being  the  most  recent  foreign  appointee 
in  Constantinople — the  turn  came  for  the  other 
guests.  Because  of  our  privileged  position  in 
the  first  drawing-room  our  turn  came  immedi- 
ately after  the  official  missions  and  when  we 
made  our  reverence  to  the  Crown  Prince  he 
cordially  shook  us  by  the  hand  and  addressed 
us  in  a  few  kind  words  in  French.  We  then 
passed  into  the  big  ballroom  where  all  the  guests 
had  gathered,  and  the  painful  ordeal  of  all  official 
receptions,  where  you  have  to  greet  with  stereo- 
typed words  the  different  people  you  know,  began. 
But  it  did  not  last  long  at  this  reception,  as 
there  was  informal  dancing  and  as  soon  as  the 
music  started  the  ice  was  broken  and  the  usual 
relaxation  set  in.  We  danced  a  little  and  we 
watched  the  crowd  which  was  the  most  interest- 
ing agglomeration  of  official  people  one  could 
see  anywhere.  Even  the  Greek  Mission  was 
present,  but  its  members  had  the  good  taste  to 
disappear  soon  after  the  dancing  had  started. 
Prominent  diplomats  of  all  nations  and  dash- 
ing officers  in  resplendent  uniforms  were  talk- 
ing and  joking  with  each  other  as  if  the  war 
had  never  taken  place,  or  if  peace  had  really 
been  established.  But  the  most  stunning  figure 
of  all  and  the  one  which  attracted  the  most  atten- 
tion, was  unquestionably  that  of  a  young  Arab 
prince,  cousin  of  Emir  Feical,  King  of  Mesopo- 
tamia, and  direct  descendant  of  the  Prophet  Ma- 


178  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

homed.  The  prince,  or  more  correctly  the  "sher- 
eef," as  his  real  title  is,  was  clad  in  a  flowing 
robe  of  silk  and  had  the  Arab  headgear,  a  white 
silk  cover  tightly  bound  on  the  head  by  a  band 
of  gold  threads  and  loosely  floating  on  the  shoul- 
ders. We  were  talking  with  some  American 
friends,  a  dear  old  lady  of  the  Middle  West  and 
her  husband  who  is  a  teacher  at  the  American 
Robert  College,  when  the  Shereef  recognized  me 
and  came  to  speak  to  us.  Naturally,  I  introduced 
him  to  my  wife  and  our  friends,  and  as  he  spoke 
English  most  fluently,  as  he  looked  most  romantic 
in  his  robe,  and  his  blond  beard  gave  a  Christ- 
like expression  to  his  aristocratic  features,  our 
friends  were  visibly  very  much  impressed  by  him. 
When  he  left  us  the  lady  of  the  Middle  West, 
all  a-flutter,  asked  me  who  he  was — and  could 
not  conceal  her  terrible  disappointment  when  I 
informed  her  he  was  a  "Shereef"!  The  dear  old 
lady  confused  the  title  with  the  functions  of  a 
sheriff  charged  with  the  keeping  of  the  peace  in 
English-speaking  countries,  and  her  disappoint- 
ment as  well  as  the  ignorance  of  her  husband, 
who  did  not  correct  Her,  amused  us  so  that  we 
did  not  explain,  and  to  this  day  I  imagine  that 
they  both  are  firmly  convinced  that  sheriffs  in 
Turkey  wear  too  gorgeous  and  too  impracticable 
uniforms. 

Towards  midnight  the  doors  of  the  dining-room 
were  opened  and  every  one  went  down  stairs  to 


CONSTANTINOPLE,  1922  179 

Have  cold  supper.  The  crowd  was  such  that  de- 
spite the  rather  chilly  weather  of  the  season  many 
wandered  in  the  gardens.  It  is  here  that  I  was 
for  the  first  time  introduced  to  His  Highness 
Izzet  Pasha,  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  who 
was  later  to  show  me  many  marks  of  friendship. 
He  of  course  knew  my  father  and  my  family  and 
immediately  put  my  wife  and  myself  at  our  ease 
by  stating  that  he  wanted  to  be  considered  by  us 
as  an  "Oncle."  This  is  a  mark  of  extreme  cour- 
tesy in  Turkey  and  we  were,  and  have  been  ever 
since,  duly  grateful  to  Izzet  Pasha  for  this  and 
for  his  subsequent  real  friendship.  Be  it  said  in 
parentheses  that  Izzet  Pasha  is  one  of  the  ablest 
statesmen  of  Europe,  broadminded,  most  progres- 
sive and  democratic. 

As  the  crowd  was  thinning  we  had  an  oppor- 
tunity to  talk  some  more  to  the  Persian  repre- 
sentative and  to  the  Khanoum  who  were  justly 
delighted  with  the  remarkable  success  of  their  re- 
ception. They  had  dared  to  bring  together  all 
the  representatives  of  different  nations  at  war  and 
of  nations  who  had  not  yet  concluded  peace  and 
they  had  been  most  successful  in  their  endeavour. 
This  was  especially  remarkable  as  it  took  place 
right  in  Constantinople  which  is  and  has  been  for 
many  years  the  center  of  international  intrigues, 
political  rivalries  and  petty  jealousies.  We  could 
congratulate  them  therefore  most  truthfully.  They 
took  us  back  into  a  small  sitting-room  on  the  first 


180  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

floor  wHere  we  had  a  few  minutes  private  audi- 
ence with  the  Crown  Prince  who  courteously  ex- 
pressed the  hope  that  we  had  enjoyed  the  recep- 
tion. Upon  learning  that  my  wife  was  American 
he  stated  his  admiration  for  the  United  States 
which  he  hopes  to  be  able  to  visit  some  time.  It 
surely  would  be  a  very  good  thing  for  the  world  if 
through  visits  of  this  kind  the  western  world  was 
placed  in  a  position  to  know  and  appreciate  the 
Orient.  The  American  idea  of  an  Oriental  po- 
tentate would  surely  be  greatly  revised  if  Oriental 
princes  such  as  the  Persian  Crown  Prince  and  the 
Turkish  Imperial  Princes  came  to  America  and 
entered  into  personal  touch  with  the  people. 

Of  course  the  Oriental  feminine  element  was 
entirely  absent  from  the  reception  at  the  Persian 
Embassy,  the  Persians  being  in  this  respect 
much  stricter  than  the  Turks,  their  women  do 
not  go  out  in  society.  And  as  Persian  ladies 
were  not  to  be  present,  Turkish  ladies  also  re- 
mained away.  But  this  is  not  the  case  at  the  re- 
ceptions given  by  the  other  Embassies,  especially 
the  American  Embassy. 

The  United  States  High  Commissioner  and  his 
wife  give  every  season  a  series  of  entertainments 
to  which  they  ask  in  turn  the  different  nations 
represented  in  Constantinople.  This  solves  very 
diplomatically  the  always  ticklish  problem  of  bring- 
ing inadvertently  together  representatives  of  na- 


CONSTANTINOPLE,  1922  181 

tions  who  are  not  on  good  terms.  The  receptions 
given  at  the  American  Embassy  are  always  most 
enjoyable  and  I  can  say  without  exaggeration  that 
among  all  the  foreign  representatives  it  is  the 
American  High  Commissioner  and  his  wife  who 
are  the  most  liked — and  liked  indiscriminately  by 
all — in  Constantinople.  Whenever  they  give  an 
entertainment  to  which  the  Turkish  society  is 
invited  the  drawing-rooms  of  the  Embassy  are 
rilled  to  full  capacity  as  all  the  Turks  who  are 
asked  want  to  show  their  appreciation  by  coming 
to  the  party.  The  company  is  always  the  most 
representative  gathering  that  one  can  see  in  Con- 
stantinople. At  one  of  the  "the  dansants"  they  gave 
recently  there  were,  besides  all  the  Turkish  Gov- 
ernment officials,  not  less  than  four  Imperial 
Princes  and  three  Princesses.  It  surely  is  a  sign 
of  the  times  and  proof  of  the  emancipation  of 
Turkish  women  to  see  at  a  large  reception  a 
Turkish  Princess,  a  niece  or  cousin  of  the  reign- 
ing Calif,  freely  talking  to  strangers. 

It  is  always  at  the  American  Embassy  that  one 
sees  the  largest  collection  of  Turkish  ladies. 
Americans  are  very  much  liked  by  the  Turks  and 
many  of  the  younger  Turkish  generation  have 
been  educated  at  Robert  College  or  at  the  Con- 
stantinople College,  the  two  American  educational 
institutions  of  Constantinople  where  young  men 
and  young  women  are  educated  according  to  an 


182  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

American  program.  It  was  at  one  of  the  teas 
given  at  the  American  Embassy  that  we  met  one 
of  the  principals  of  Robert  College,  and  he  and  his 
wife  having  asked  us  to  tea  the  following  week 
and  having  promised  to  take  us  through  the  college 
we  were  delighted  to  accept  their  invitation. 


XT 

ROBERT  COLLEGE 

J^OBERT  COLLEGE  is  situated  at  the  most 
picturesque  spot  on  the  Bosphorus.  It  domi- 
nates the  narrowest  part  of  the  waterway  and  its 
many  buildings  are  on  a  hill,  above  the  very  place 
which  was  selected  by  the  Turks  nearly  six  cen- 
turies ago  as  the  strategic  spot  to  build  their  first 
fort  for  the  conquest  of  Constantinople.  The 
ruins  of  the  old  fort  are  still  there. 

Although  the  electric  cars  run  from  the  city 
almost  to  the  very  door  of  the  college,  we  took 
an  automobile,  both  because  we  wanted  to  time 
our  arrival  and  because  we  did  not  desire  to  climb 
through  the  park  of  the  College  up  the  hill  where 
its  principal  buildings  are.  We  left  Stamboul  with 
some  American  friends  who  had  also  been  asked 
and,  at  times  skirting  the  quays,  at  times  taking  the 
road  behind  the  old  palaces,  we  followed  the  wind- 
ing contour  of  the  Bosphorus.  All  the  villages 
here  constitute  the  real  suburbs  of  Constantinople 
and  follow  each  other  almost  uninterruptedly  near- 
ly to  the  shores  of  the  Black  Sea.  One  of  the 
first  things  that  attracted  our  attention  soon  after 
we  had  left  the  city  proper  were  the  buildings  of 

183 


184  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

the  American  Naval  Base  where  are  kept  all  the 
stores  for  the  United  States  warships.  The  prin- 
cipal nations  keep  such  stores  at  present  in  Con- 
stantinople, the  harbour  being  used  as  a  base  for 
their  warships  engaged  in  the  international  con- 
trol of  the  straits.  America  maintains  only  a  few 
small  craft  in  the  Near  East;  therefore,  its  naval 
base  is  much  smaller  than  those  of  the  other  na- 
tions but  it  is  nevertheless  quite  an  extensive  or- 
ganization where  are  stored  canned  products  of 
all  kind,  fresh  food,  as  well  as  deck  and  engine- 
room  supplies.  A  few  squares  from  the  American 
Naval  Base  is  the  Imperial  Palace  of  Dolma 
Baghtshe,  the  official  residence  of  the  Sultan. 

It  is  an  elaborate  and  large  palace  in  stone 
and  marble,  within  a  beautiful  garden  surrounded 
with  high  walls  and  wrought-iron  gates.  I  re- 
member having  entered  it  during  the  reign  of 
the  late  Sultan.  I  was  struck  by  the  enormous 
size  of  its  halls  and  rooms,  by  the  luxury  of  its 
priceless  carpets,  rugs  and  hangings,  and  by  its 
gallery  of  pictures  which  includes  the  most  import- 
ant collection  of  paintings  of  the  famous  Russian 
artist,  Aivazowsky.  It  had  been  collected  by  Sultan 
Abdul  Aziz  and  is  now  greedily  coveted  by  many 
European  museums,  who  will,  however,  have  to 
be  satisfied  just  to  covet  it  as  Turkey  does  not  sell 
its  national  art  possessions.  Passing  before  the  Im- 
perial Palace  I  could  not  help  comparing  mentally 
its  present  appearance  to  the  way  it  looked  when 


ROBERT  COLLEGE  185 

I  had  previously  visited  it.  At  that  time  the  place 
was  full  of  life,  the  large  gates  were  wide  opened, 
and  the  gardens  were  crowded  with  military  aides 
and  chamberlains  busily  going  and  coming.  Now 
the  gates  were  closed,  a  lonely  Turkish  sentry 
was  pacing  up  and  down,  guarding  the  empty 
palace,  and  through  the  wrought-iron  bars  I  could 
get  only  glimpses  of  its  forsaken  gardens.  My 
American  friends  asked  me  why  the  palace  was 
now  so  tightly  closed  and  easily  understood  the 
reason  when  I  called  their  attention  to  the  fact 
that  most  of  the  largest  foreign  warships  had  to 
be  anchored  in  the  Bosphorus  right  in  front  of  the 
Palace  as  the  inner  harbour  of  Constantinople  is 
too  congested  with  trade  to  make  it  practical  for 
battleships  to  stay  there.  No  wonder,  therefore, 
that  the  Sultan  prefers  to  live  temporarily  in  the 
summer  palace  of  Yildiz  Kiosk  which  is  located 
outside  the  city,  on  a  hill  far  away  from  the  sight 
of  foreign  warships  whose  propinquity  would  be 
too  vivid  a  reminder  to  the  sovereign  of  the  plight 
of  his  nation. 

A  little  further  on  we  passed  before  the  gates 
of  another  old  palace  which  has  now  been  con- 
verted into  an  orphan  asylum,  where  hundreds  of 
Turkish  war  orphans  are  being  cared  for  by  the 
Committee  of  Turkish  Ladies  for  the  Relief  of 
Orphans.  Poor  little  boys,  ranging  from  six  to 
fourteen  years  and  uniformly  dressed  in  khaki 
tunics  and  long  trousers,  were  pitifully  standing 


i86  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

and  watching  the  passers-by.  They  did  not  even 
seem  to  have  any  desire  to  pass  their  few  min- 
utes of  recreation  in  playing  and  running  in  the 
gardens,  as  all  other  children  of  their  age  do  in 
all  other  countries.  Truly  Sherman  was  right  in 
his  definition  of  war,  and  he  would  have  even 
forged  a  stronger  word  if  he  had  seen  the  conse- 
quences of  war  in  Turkey! 

Finally  we  arrived  at  Bebek,  with  its  pretty  lit- 
tle public  garden,  its  tiny  harbour  where  small 
yachts  and  skiffs  are  peacefully  lying  covered  with 
tarpaulin  for  their  winter  sleep.  From  here  to 
the  lower  gate  of  Robert  College  is  only  a  very 
short  distance  and  within  a  few  minutes  our  car 
swung  through  the  gate  and  up  the  road  winding 
its  way  to  the  top  of  the  hill.  The  climb  is  pretty 
steep  and  I  pity  the  day  pupils  who  have  to  nego- 
tiate it  every  morning  on  foot.  Of  course  the 
teachers  claim  that  this  is  good  exercise  for  the 
boys.  There  is  a  building  at  the  foot  of  the  hill, 
right  near  the  entrance  gate,  which  was  originally 
meant  as  an  abode  for  some  of  the  teachers  and 
principals  of  the  college.  It  has  perfectly  splendid 
accommodations,  but  few  of  the  teachers  live  here 
as  they  naturally  prefer  to  live  on  top  of  the  hill. 
Our  hosts  had  their  domicile  in  the  hospital  build- 
ing which  is  right  below  the  large  terrace  at  the 
very  summit.  So  before  we  reached  this  terrace 
our  car  swerved  around  and  stopped  at  the  door 
of  the  hospital. 


ROBERT  COLLEGE  187 

We  were  directed  to  an  apartment  on  the 
ground  floor  where  our  hosts  received  us  and, 
after  the  usual  greetings,  served  us  tea  and  some 
delicious  American  homemade  cakes.  All  the 
furniture  in  this  apartment — as  throughout  the 
whole  college — is  imported  from  America,  even  to 
the  window  frames.  Provided  one  does  not  look 
out  of  the  windows  one  could  easily  believe  one- 
self to  be  in  an  American  home  of  the  standard- 
ized "bourgeois"  type.  Everything,  even  to  the 
mahogany-finished  mantelpiece  and  the  book-cases 
to  match,  speaks  of  America,  the  middle  class 
America  cut  out  of  immovable  patterns.  The 
furniture  itself  is  also  American  and  reminds  you 
of  pictures  you  see  in  the  anniversary  sales  periodi- 
cally advertised  in  newspapers.  The  eternal 
rocking-chair  is,  of  course  there,  and  on  the  cen- 
ter-table the  latest  Ladies'  Home  Companion 
rests  peacefully  side  by  side  with  the  latest  Satur- 
day Evening  Post.  Truly  this  is  a  little  corner  of 
America,  possibly  not  a  corner  of  the  progressive 
America  which  leads  the  world  in  things  artistic, 
intellectual,  scientific  and  political — possibly  not  a 
corner  of  the  good  old  consistent  America,  puri- 
tan in  her  tastes,  but  which  has  for  generations 
given  to  the  great  Western  Republic  millions  and 
millions  of  hard-working  farmers,  traders  and 
navigators,  Empire  builders — but  a  corner  of  the 
average  America  which  abides  faithfully  to  stan- 
dardized taste.  ./ 


iSS  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

The  general  conversation  started  naturally  by 
talking  about  America,  the  land  of  the  free,  and 
how  everyone  wished  to  be  there;  how  much  com- 
fort one  had  in  America  and  how  little  of  it  one 
had  in  Europe,  especially  in  Constantinople;  how 
the  American  colony  in  Constantinople  had  in- 
creased since  the  war,  and  what  a  blessing  it  was 
to  have  now  so  many  Americans  whom  one  could 
visit  and  whom  one  could  talk  to;  how  the  Amer- 
ican colony  was  sufficient  to  itself  and  how  one 
could  pleasantly  and  interestingly  pass  away  the 
time  by  seeing  only  people  of  one's  own  kind  with 
whom  one  could  speak  without  the  necessity  of 
employing  an  interpreter  or  without  being  obliged 
to  watch  oneself  continuously  so  as  not  to  make  a 
break.  Of  course  this  question  of  language  is  a 
serious  consideration  to  the  Americans;  as  most 
of  them  speak  only  English  they  have  compara- 
tively few  people  they  can  talk  to  in  foreign  coun- 
tries. Our  host,  however,  remarked  that  through 
the  good  work  done  by  Robert  College  and  the 
Constantinople  College  for  Girls,  who  were  both 
striving  to  spread  education  and  the  light  of  truth, 
the  number  of  English-speaking  "natives"  had 
greatly  increased.  Our  hostess  pointed  out  how 
bright  the  young  "native"  children  were  and  how 
easily  they  picked  up  language,  education  and  re- 
ligion. They  suggested  showing  us  through  the 
college  grounds  and  buildings  and  so  we  all  got 
up. 


ROBERT  COLLEGE  189 

Our  tour  started  by  stepping  out  of  the  French 
windows  into  the  little  terrace,  where  an  old  fash- 
ioned New  England  flower  garden  had  been  trans- 
planted on  these  distant  shores.  The  hedges  were 
not  high  enough  to  completely  mask  the  gorgeous 
Oriental  view.  Seeing  we  were  so  much  interested 
in  the  panorama,  our  hosts  suggested  our  going 
on  the  roof  of  the  Hospital  Building  where 
we  could  see  it  without  any  obstruction.  As  we 
passed  through  the  drawing-room  our  hostess 
pointed  out  to  us  the  genuine  Turkish  and  Persian 
carpets  she  had  been  lucky  enough  to  purchase 
through  the  uncle  of  one  of  the  pupils  who  had  a 
shop  in  the  Bazaar.  She  considered  them  as  a 
real  bargain  and  she  proudly  told  us  the  price  she 
had  paid.  Of  course  we  did  not  say  anything,  but 
my  conscience  was  only  set  at  rest  after  I  found, 
through  skilful  investigation,  that  the  pupil  whose 
uncle  had  a  shop  in  the  Bazaar  was  an  Armenian 
"and  one  of  the  cleverest  little  fellows  we  have." 
Our  hostess  showed  us  also,  hidden  in  a  corner 
near  the  door  and  patiently  awaiting  the  eventual 
return  of  its  owners  to  America  where  it  could  be 
shown  to  friends  from  Michigan  or  Wisconsin  as 
exhibit  A  of  a  quaint  collection  of  Turkish  an- 
tiques, a  brass  brazero,  another  bargain  purchased 
from  the  Armenian  uncle  of  the  clever  little  pupil. 
It  seemed  that  this  man  through  his  good  ser- 
vices to  our  hosts  had  been  recommended  by  them 
to  many  of  their  friends   and  had  furnished  to 


190  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

several  of  them  similar  bargains.  No  wonder  that 
the  family  of  the  little  boy  prodigy  could  afford 
to  send  him  to  Robert  College. 

We  climbed  the  stairs  of  the  building  and 
stopped  on  our  way  in  the  hospital  room,  a  per- 
fectly equipped  place  with  all  the  comforts  de- 
vised by  modern  science  and  kept  immaculately 
clean.  And  as  we  climbed  one  more  flight  we 
reached  the  door  of  the  roof,  a  spacious  flat  place 
with  an  indented  parapet  built  according  to  the 
best  principles  of  American  neo-mediaeval  sub- 
urban architecture.  Here  we  had  the  view,  and 
words  fail  me  to  depict  its  gorgeousness.  Imagine 
if  you  can  a  limitless  horizon  extending  far  into 
the  transparent  azure  of  a  limpid  Eastern  sky, 
deep  into  the  snow-covered  mountains  of  Anatolia, 
which  are,  however,  so  far  away  that  they  almost 
seem  at  this  distance  to  be  below  your  level.  All 
around  in  the  country  are  little  bouquets  of  trees 
which,  with  each  slender  minaret,  represent  the 
location  of  a  small  village.  Nearer,  but  still  on 
the  Asiatic  shores,  are  the  green  hills  of  the  Bos- 
phorus  with  their  summer  residences  and  their 
uninterrupted  line  of  homes  by  the  water,  while 
below  are  the  green  hills  of  the  European  shore. 
With  the  blue  water  in  between  and  the  blue  sky 
overhead,  the  picture  is  unforgettable.  We  admired 
it  in  silence  while  our  hosts  told  us  of  their  little 
country  house  in  America,  near  a  little  pond  whose 
waters  are  as  blue  as  the  waters  of  the  Bosphorus. 


ROBERT  COLLEGE  191 

We  descend  from  the  terrace  and  we  are  taken 
to  the  principal  buildings  of  the  college  through 
its  splendid  grounds.  The  park  is  beautiful  and 
well  kept  and  is  crowned  with  an  enormous  ter- 
race, facing  East,  from  where  we  have  another 
view  totally  different  but  fully  as  gorgeous  as  the 
one  we  had  from  the  Hospital  Building.  That  is 
the  beauty  of  the  Bosphorus:  its  aspect  changes 
from  any  spot  that  you  stand  on,  its  every  hill, 
its  every  house,  its  every  nook  and  every  corner 
has  a  different  outlook,  each  one  more  beautiful 
than  the  other.  It  completely  does  away  with  the 
monotony  that  any  panorama,  no  matter  how 
beautiful,  generally  has. 

Right  behind  the  terrace  are  the  playgrounds  of 
the  college,  large  lawns  with  special  accommo- 
dations for  all  kinds  of  games:  football,  tennis, 
croquet,  and  of  course  basket-ball  and  baseball. 
Around  these  grounds  and  facing  the  Bosphorus 
in  a  semi-circle  are  the  principal  buildings  of  the 
College  where  the  class-rooms,  the  dormitories, 
the  dining-rooms,  laboratories,  gymnasiums,  etc. 
are  located.  We  go  through  some  of  them.  They 
are  all  spacious,  well-ventilated  and  bright  rooms, 
and  each  is  equipped  according  to  the  latest  dic- 
tates of  hygiene  and  science.  It  really  is  perfect 
in  every  detail  and  no  modern  college  in  the 
United  States  can  muster  any  better  accommoda- 
tion 

Our  host  is  justly  proud  when  we  compliment 


192  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

him  on  the  College.  As  they  are  taking  us  back 
to  our  motor  he  wallas  with  me  and  expresses  his 
personal  disappointment  in  not  having  a  larger 
number  of  Turkish  pupils. 

"We  have  pupils  from  all  the  nations  of  the 
Near  East,"  he  says,  "but  the  largest  quota  is 
provided  by  the  Armenians.  We  have,  however, 
quite  a  few  Greeks,  we  have  even  Bulgarians  and 
Roumanians  who  come  here  from  their  distant 
countries,  we  have  Caucasians  and  Russians,  but 
barely  a  few  Turks.  I  do  not  understand  why 
more  Turkish  families  do  not  send  their  chil- 
dren to  be  educated  and  brought  up  by  us.  The 
Turks  desire  to  acquire  modern  education,  they 
are  unquestionably  good  workers  and  progressive. 
Ours  is,  I  believe,  the  best  College  in  the  Near 
East,  we  have  excellent  teachers  and  our  courses 
are  as  complete  as  any  of  the  American  Colleges 
back  home.  Still  the  Turks  don't  seem  to  care  to 
send  us  their  children.  They  seem  to  admire  the 
Americans,  they  desire  to  know  us  better,  to  make 
themselves  better  known  to  us.  They  seem  to  be 
sincere  in  their  wish  to  understand  us  better  and 
to  have  themselves  better  understood  in  America. 
Still  only  a  very  few  of  them  send  their  sons  to 
the  only  American  College  here  and  they  prefer 
to  send  them  to  Galata  Serai  which  is  a  college 
run  by  the  French  and  where  French  education  is 
imparted." 

On  our  way  back  in  the  car,  I  was  thinking 


ROBERT  COLLEGE  193 

over  these  parting  remarks  of  our  host  and  as 
I  noticed  that  the  American  friends  who  accom- 
panied us  had  been  impressed  by  them  I  decided  to 
tell  them  of  my  own  experience,  when  years  ago 
I  was  called  to  choose  between  Robert  College  and 
Galata  Serai  as  the  educational  institution  to  which 
to  send  my  younger  brother. 

To  appreciate  the  full  meaning  of  my  action  at 
that  time  and  of  the  reasons  that  induced  me  to 
act  that  way,  I  must  first  say  that  as  my  father 
was  in  the  diplomatic  service  I  have  grown  up  in 
foreign  countries  and  have  myself  received  a  for- 
eign education.  My  childhood  and  early  youth,  I 
passed  in  Rome,  where  French,  Italian  and  Eng- 
lish teachers  prepared  me  for  taking  my  French 
degrees.  I  also  had  a  Turkish  teacher  who  taught 
me  my  own  language.  As  far  as  religious  educa- 
tion is  concerned  although  I  studied  the  Koran, 
being  a  Muslim  born,  I  also  studied  the  Bible  and 
other  Holy  Books.  My  religious  education  was 
therefore  most  liberal  and  according  to  the  true 
Muslim  principles,  which  as  I  understand  them 
and  as  they  are  interpreted  by  all  broadminded 
Muslims,  are  all-inclusive  of  all  other  religions. 
And  recognizing  the  one  Almighty  God  and  all  His 
prophets,  I  never  hesitated  to  go  into  any  church 
of  any  denomination  and  therein  raise  my  thoughts 
in  prayer.  In  fact,  having  passed  the  greater  part 
of  my  life  in  foreign  countries  I  have  more  often 
prayed  in  churches  than  in  mosques. 


194  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

Well  about  fifteen  years  ago,  and  after  I  had 
finished  my  studies,  I  was  engaged  in  business  in 
Constantinople  while  my  father  was  transferred 
from  Rome  to  Vienna.  My  father  was  obliged 
to  choose  between  either  having  my  younger 
brother  start  again  his  studies,  with  German 
this  time  as  a  basis,  or  else  sending  him  somewhere 
where  he  could  continue  his  studies  either  in 
French  or  in  English,  both  of  which  he  knew. 
Naturally  my  father  preferred  this  last  course  and 
decided  to  send  my  younger  brother  to  Constanti- 
nople where  he  could  follow  either  the  course  of 
Robert  College  or  that  of  Galata  Serai,  and  he 
asked  me  to  investigate  both  colleges  and  to  make 
arrangements  with  the  one  I  recommended  the 
most. 

I  went  first  to  Galata  Serai,  the  program  of 
which  I  already  knew,  having  myself  taken  the 
official  French  degrees.  I  knew  that  the  education 
one  received  in  French  schools  was  somewhat  too 
theoretical  and  I  personally  was  not  therefore  in 
favour  of  my  brother  following  it.  But  to  have 
a  clear  conscience  I  visited  the  college  and  had  a 
talk  with  the  principal.  Of  course  I  found  the 
class-rooms  and  dormitories  good  enough  if  not 
very  modern,  and,  as  I  expected,  I  found  that  ath- 
letics and  sports  were  much  neglected.  As  for 
the  program  of  studies  I  found  it  as  cumbersome 
as  the  one  I  had  taken. 

My  next  step  was  to  go  to  Robert  College  where 


ROBERT  COLLEGE  195 

I  was  received  by  the  then  Dean,  who  very  cour- 
teously showed  me  all  around.  I  was  most  fav- 
ourably impressed  by  the  great  attention  given  to 
athletics  and  sports  as  well  as  by  the  most  modern 
and  hygienic  buildings,  the  working  quarters  and 
the  living  quarters.  As  for  the  program  of  studies 
it  did  not  take  me  long  to  realize  how  much  more 
practical  it  was  than  the  French  program,  how 
boys  graduated  from  an  American  College  stepped 
into  life  better  equipped  to  face  all  modern  prob- 
lems than  those  graduated  from  European  Col- 
leges. I  therefore  made  up  my  mind  and  told  the 
Dean  that  I  would  most  forcibly  advocate  the 
sending  of  my  younger  brother  to  Robert  College 
in  preference  to  Galata  Serai.  As  a  last  word,  and 
so  as  to  make  everything  clear,  I  asked  the  Dean 
if,  seeing  that  there  were  no  classes  from  Satur- 
day noon  to  Monday  morning,  the  College  would 
object  to  allowing  my  brother  to  visit  his  family 
from  Saturday  to  Sunday  evening.  The  Dean  re- 
plied that  while  he  had  no  objection  to  my 
brother's  visiting  his  family  on  Sunday  afternoons 
it  would  not  be  possible  for  him  to  go  home  on 
Saturdays,  as  one  of  the  few  unbreakable  rules  of 
the  College  was  that  all  pupils  should  be  present 
at  Sunday  service.  Despite  all  my  arguments  to 
the  effect  that  my  brother  was  a  Muslim  and 
that,  to  be  fair,  he  should  at  least  not  be  obliged 
to  attend  any  religious  functions  until  he  had 
reached  the  age  of  reason  and  could  then  choose 


196  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

freely  the  creed  he  wanted  to  follow,  the  Dean  in- 
formed me  that  he  was  very  sorry  but  Muslim  or 
no  Muslim  it  was  an  unbreakable  rule  that  all 
pupils  should  go  to  church  on  Sundays  and  he 
could  not  possibly  make  an  exception  in  favour 
of  any  Muslim  pupil. 

This  rule  seemed  to  me  so  narrow-minded,  and 
apparently  such  an  unjustifiable  attempt  to  try  to 
force,  to  coerce  young  children  into  the  fold  of  one 
church  and  one  creed  in  preference  to  any  other, 
that  I  was  struck  by  its  narrowness  in  comparison 
with  the  broadness  of  my  own  education.  As  a 
result  my  brother  went  to  Galata  Serai.  And  hun- 
dreds, possibly  thousands  of  other  Turkish  boys 
are  sent  yearly  to  Galata  Serai  in  preference  to 
Robert  College  for  this  very  reason.  Americans 
should  not  take  the  lack  of  participation  of  the 
Turks  in  the  educational  campaign  they  lead  in 
Turkey  as  a  reason  to  doubt  of  the  desire  of  the 
Turks  to  acquire  modern  education  or  as  a  proof 
that  they  are  not  sincere  when  they  claim  that  they 
want  to  be  better  known  by  the  Americans  and 
want  to  know  them  better.  This  lack  of  response 
on  the  part  of  the  Turks  should  be  rather  attri- 
buted to  the  fact  that  all  Turks  like  any  civilized 
nation,  resent  the  activities  of  foreign  missionaries 
especially  when  these  missionaries  try  to  impose  on 
their  children  a  religion  which  is  not  their  own, 
and  try  to  mold  young  minds  into  accepting  the 
dogma  of  an  alien  church. 


ROBERT  COLLEGE  197 

When  I  explained  the  foregoing  to  our  Ameri- 
can friends  they  understood  exactly  the  situation 
and  they  agreed  with  me  that  the  greatest  handi- 
cap for  the  spread  of  American  interests  in  the 
Near  East  is  the  fact  that  all  of  the  American  edu- 
cational enterprises  are  conducted  by  missionaries, 
who,  under  the  guise  of  offering  modern  educa- 
tion, endeavour  to  convert  people  to  their  own  de- 
nominations. The  Constantinople  College  for  Girls 
is  conducted  on  identical  lines,  as  far  as  religion 
is  concerned,  with  Robert  College.  And  there 
is  no  doubt  that  if  instead  of  having  Colleges  for 
Girls  and  Boys  conducted  by  missionaries  the 
Americans  maintained  non-sectarian  schools 
where  modern  science  was  taught  and  education 
imparted  without  consideration  of  religion  they 
would  render  a  far  greater  service  to  humanity 
and  culture.  Irrespective  of  religion,  creed  or 
denomination  they  would  help  in  forming  in  the 
Near  East  new  generations  of  modern  men  and 
women. 

Unfortunately  the  Constantinople  College  for 
Girls  has  become,  since  the  armistice,  more  un- 
popular among  the  Turks  also  for  another  reason, 
and  that  is  that  despite  the  fact  that  the  United 
States  was  never  at  war  with  Turkey,  despite  the 
fact  that  the  Turks  had  treated  all  American  in- 
stitutions most  correctly  and  in  a  friendly  manner 
during  the  war,  all  the  teachers  and  American  em- 
ployees of  the  College  did  not  hesitate  to  manifest 


198  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

openly  their  pleasure  at  the  sight  of  the  arrival  of 
the  Franco-British  fleet  in  the  harbour  of  Con- 
stantinople. Together  with  Greek  and  Armenian 
pupils  they  waved  flags  and  handkerchiefs,  they 
cheered  from  the  windows  of  the  College  the  bat- 
tleships of  the  then  enemies  of  Turkey  without 
consideration  of  the  feelings  of  their  Turkish 
pupils.  To  all  the  Turkish  girls  the  sight  of  the 
entrance  of  the  Franco-British  fleet  in  the  Bos- 
phorus  meant  the  realization  of  the  defeat  of  their 
country,  and  they  still  resent  the  fact  that  their 
teachers,  whom  they  had  until  then  considered  as 
friendly  Americans,  cheered  with  joy  in  celebra- 
tion of  the  defeat  of  Turkey,  the  country  which 
had  extended  them  a  most  courteous  hospitality 
during  the  worst  years  of  the  war. 

It  is,  of  course,  true  that,  fortunately  for  both 
countries,  there  are  in  Turkey  quite  a  few  Amer- 
icans and  American  institutions  or  enterprises 
which  are  moved  by  truly  American  broadminded- 
ness  and  are  imbued  with  a  true  spirit  of  fair  play. 
Those  are  the  business  and  Governmental  institu- 
tions, and  it  is  most  remarkable  that  all  of  the 
Americans  who  do  not  have  to  depend  for  their 
living  on  the  continuance  of  an  anti-Turkish  cam- 
paign, are  out  and  out  friendly  to  the  Turks  and 
openly  in  their  favour.  The  Turks  see  this  and 
can  discriminate  between  the  two  groups.  They  are 
duly  grateful  to  those  of  their  American  guests 
who  show  rectitude  and  fairness  in  their  judgment, 


ROBERT  COLLEGE  199 

They  are  especially  grateful  to  the  American  High 
Commissioner  and  to  his  assistants  who  are  more 
liked  than  any  other  foreigner  in  Turkey.  The 
other  Americans  are  also  very  much  liked,  even 
the  missionaries,  but  it  would  unquestionably  better 
serve  the  interests  of  America  in  the  Near  East, 
and  civilization  as  a  whole,  if  there  were  less  mis- 
sionary and  more  non-sectarian  American  enter- 
prises. 

I  believe  that  the  American  friends  who  were 
with  us  and  who  had  been  in  Constantinople  on 
business  for  quite  a  while  realized  perfectly  well 
what  I  meant  when  I  said  that  in  my  opinion  the 
most  desirable  thing  in  the  interest  of  the  two 
countries  would  be  the  appearance  of  an  American 
Pierre  Loti.  It  can  be  said  that  the  indestructible 
friendship  between  France  and  Turkey,  and  especi- 
ally the  fact  that  it  has  survived  the  war,  has 
been  cemented  by  the  work  of  this  great  French 
writer.  He  has  taken  the  trouble  to  study  the 
Turks,  he  has  come  and  lived  with  them — not 
in  Pera,  but  in  Stamboul,  in  the  heart  of  Turkey. 
He  has  lived  as  one  of  them  for  years  and  has 
learned  thoroughly  their  qualities  and  their  faults. 
He  has  knocked  and  has  been  admitted,  he  has 
opened  his  heart  and  all  hearts  have  opened  to 
him.  And  after  having  thus  equipped  himself  he 
has  gone  back  to  France  and  has  endeavoured  to 
impart  his  knowledge  of  the  Turks  to  his  country- 
men by  writing  unbiased  novels  and  books.     He 


200  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

has,  as  all  novelists,  romanticized  his  message.  As 
the  real  poet  that  he  is,  he  has  shown  Turkey  and 
the  Turks  through  the  coloured  glasses  of  poetry. 
He  has  perhaps  added  a  few  things  here  and 
erased  a  few  other  things  there.  But  he  has 
made  the  heart  of  Turkey  talk  to  the  heart  of 
France  and  they  both  have  come  to  know  and  love 
each  other,  without  prejudice,  without  religious 
thought. 

A  single  American  Pierre  Loti,  would  render, 
in  the  long  run,  much  greater  service  to  the  in- 
terests of  his  own  country  in  the  Near  East  and 
would  more  efficiently  serve  the  cause  of  civiliza- 
tion than  all  the  organizations  at  present  en- 
gaged in  trying  to  make  converts  and  succeeding 
only  in  showing  partiality  in  favour  of  the  people 
of  their  own  religion  by  helping  and  succouring 
Christians  although  thousands  of  destitute  Tur- 
kish refugees  might  be  dying  at  their  very  doors. 

After  all  Pierre  Loti  has  used  his  exceptional 
talents  as  a  novelist  and  poet  to  bring  about  a 
personal  touch  between  the  French  and  the  Turks. 
Is  there  not  an  American  novelist  or  poet  who  is 
willing  to  render  the  same  service  to  his  own 
country?  And  if  there  is  anyone  whose  talent  is 
equal  to  that  of  Pierre  Loti  and  who  has  the 
courage  to  publish  his  opinion  as  the  French  nov- 
elist has  done,  he  can  thoroughly  count  on  all  the 
help,  assistance  and  gratitude  of  the  whole  Tur- 
kish race,  much  maligned  in  American  literature. 


ROBERT  COLLEGE  201 

Pierre  Loti  Has  become  immortal  tHrougH  his 
works  on  Turkey.  The  people  of  Constantinople 
have  built  a  monument,  a  fountain,  in  his  honour 
and  have  named  one  of  the  principal  streets  of 
the  City  after  him.  His  name  is  cherished  by 
millions  of  Turks  who  treat  him  as  a  friend,  as  a 
brother,  when  he  comes  to  Turkey.  What  is  most 
needed  for  the  American  propaganda  in  the  Near 
East  is  an  American  Pierre  Loti. 

Not  that  the  works  undertaken  and  conducted 
by  American  enterprises  in  Turkey  are  not  very 
laudable  in  themselves.  But  they  are  as  insuffici- 
ent to  promote  a  good  and  thorough  understanding 
between  the  two  people  as  the  activities  of  the 
French  missionaries  were  before  the  advent  of 
Pierre  Loti.  The  French  Freres  and  Sisters  of 
Charity  had  many  schools,  many  hospitals  and 
orphans  asylums  where  they  were  doing  very 
good  work  for  many  generations.  But  it  took  a 
Pierre  Loti  to  establish  the  personal  bonds  of 
friendship  between  the  two  people  and  to  promote, 
by  this  fact  alone,  all  French  interests  in  Turkey. 
He  has  made  the  masses  of  his  countrymen  at 
home  know  and  appreciate  the  Turks  at  their  true 
value.  The  work  of  an  American  Loti  would  be 
the  crowning  glory  of  all  American  enterprises  in 
the  Near  East. 

I  explained  to  our  friends  that  this  was  my 
personal  opinion  only,  and  that  I  knew  that  the 


202  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

Turks  appreciated  fully  the  work  that  American 
organizations  were  at  present  conducting  in  Tur- 
key, and  that  my  desire  to  see  an  American  Pierre 
Loti  was  exclusively  due  to  a  very  legitimate  wish 
of  seeing  my  country  and  my  people  better  known 
in  America,  known  more  intimately  and  more 
thoroughly  through  the  eyes  of  an  impartial  writer 
rather  than  through  the  eyes  of  people  who  might 
have  certain  interests  in  keeping  alive  the  false 
reputation  of  the  Turks. 

Our  American  friends  agreed  implicitly  with 
me  and  pointed  out  that  what  surprised  them  the 
most  on  their  arrival  in  Constantinople  was  to 
find  that  all  the  Americans  who  were  in  business 
or  in  non-religious  work  and  who  had  had  an  op- 
portunity to  know  the  Turks  had  become  without 
exception  real  friends  of  this  maligned  race. 
They  said  that  a  careful  investigation  would  estab- 
lish the  fact  that  all  those  who  have  written  or 
spoken  against  the  Turks  had  done  so  for  an 
ulterior  personal  motive.  And  they  deplored  with 
me  the  fact  that  no  great  American  novelist  had 
as  yet  come  to  Turkey  and  popularized  in  his  own 
country  the  knowledge  of  the  Turks  as  they  really 
are. 

Thus  saying  we  arrived  at  the  hotel  where  our 
friends  were  stopping  and  upon  their  expressing 
a  desire  to  find  out  more  about  Turkish  schools 
and  Turkish  educational  institutions,  I  promised 


ROBERT  COLLEGE  203 

to  arrange  for  them  to  visit  some  of  the  exclusive- 
ly Turkish  schools  and  colleges  and  to  take  them 
to  call  on  people  who  would  be  able  to  tell  them 
about  modern  Turkish  education  better  than  I 
could.  And  we  parted  until  the  following  week 
when  I  was  able  to  keep  my  promise  to  them. 


XII 
EDUCATION  AND  ART 

TT  was  very  easy  to  assist  my  friends  in  the 
investigation  they  wanted  to  conduct  for  their 
own  private  information  on  Turkish  schools  and 
the  educational  system  of  Turkey.  My  father  had 
been  twice  Minister  of  Public  Education  and  he 
was  in  a  position  to  give  all  the  information  de- 
sired. My  first  step  was,  therefore,  to  take  our 
friends  to  him  and  have  him  explain  the  present 
educational  system  in  our  country. 

Contrary  to  what  is  generally  believed  in  for- 
eign countries  education  is  obligatory  in  Turkey 
and  there  are  fewer  illiterates  among  the  Turks 
than,  for  instance,  among  Russians  and  other 
Near  Eastern  people.  This  is  principally  due  to 
the  fact  that  all  Muslims  have  considered  it  their 
duty  ever  since  the  time  of  the  Prophet  Mahom- 
ed to  learn  how  to  read  the  Koran.  Unfortu- 
nately, however,  this  religious  principle  was  taken 
too  literally  by  the  average  Muslim  who,  for  cen- 
turies was  satisfied  to  learn  just  the  alphabet,  as  he 
imagined  that  as  long  as  he  could  read  the  Holy 
Book  he  was  accomplishing  his  religious  duty.    In 

the  course  of  time,  therefore,  when  other  nations 

204 


EDUCATION  AND  ART  205 

besides  the  Arabs  embraced  the  Muslim  faith,  the 
people  who  did  not  know  Arabic  were  also  per- 
fectly contented  to  be  able  to  read  the  Koran  even 
if  they  did  not  understand  its  meaning.  All  Mus- 
lim countries  having  adopted  the  Arabic  alphabet 
this  very  elementary  education  placed  even  the 
greatest  majority  of  non-Arab  Muslims  in  a 
position  to  read  their  own  language.  But  it  was 
only  a  very  restricted  higher  class  which  took  the 
trouble  of  studying  its  grammar.  Thus  for  cen- 
turies only  a  limited  number  of  Turks — as  was  the 
case  with  the  Muslims  of  other  nations — were 
learned  enough  to  read  and  write  fluently  their 
own  languages,  although  the  greatest  majority 
knew  enough  of  the  alphabet  to  be  able  to  read 
the  Koran  and  to  sign  their  names. 

Of  course  this  restricted  knowledge  of  reading 
cannot  count  as  education,  but  when  it  is  con- 
sidered that  the  science  of  reading  was  so  ne- 
glected among  the  nations  of  the  West  that  prac- 
tically up  to  the  period  of  Louis  XIV  very  few  of 
the  Western  nobles  knew  even  how  to  sign  their 
names  or  to  decipher  the  simplest  document,  it  will 
be  admitted  that  anyhow  the  rudimentary  knowl- 
edge of  the  East  was  preferable  to  the  almost  total 
ignorance  of  the  West. 

However,  as  in  everything  else,  Turkey  made 
very  little  progress  in  this  matter  of  education 
during  the  nineteenth  century  with  the  result  that 
while  the  percentage  of  people  who  had  acquired 


206  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

a  high  school  education  had  increased  in  a  very- 
large  proportion  in  the  West,  the  past  generation 
in  Turkey  had  still  only  the  same  proportion  of 
educated  people  as  it  had  a  century  ago.  The 
number  of  people  who  knew  the  elementary  prin- 
cipals of  the  alphabet  was  as  considerable  as  be- 
fore, and  was  proportionately  much  larger  than 
the  number  of  people  who  had  this  elementary 
knowledge  in  Western  countries.  But  the  per- 
centage of  really  educated  people  was  proportion- 
ately much  smaller  in  Turkey  than  in  the  progres- 
sive Western  countries.  In  other  words,  although 
complete  illiteracy  was  almost  non-existent  in  Tur- 
key, education  was  the  property  of  a  compara- 
tively small  number  of  people.  The  educational 
level  of  the  people  at  large  was,  and  still  is,  much 
lower  than  the  educational  level  of  the  people  of 
Western  European  nations. 

This  explains  the  reason  why  one  can  see  even 
to-day  in  the  streets  of  Constantinople,  generally 
in  the  courtyard  of  the  mosques,  public  secretaries 
taking  letters  from  old  men  and  women  of  the 
lower  classes,  poor  people  who  do  not  know  gram- 
mar enough  to  write  their  own  letters  but  who 
nevertheless  are  able  to  spell  their  names  or  to 
laboriously  decipher  a  printed  document.  And  it 
is  no  wonder  that  foreigners  are  generally  scep- 
tical when  told  that  the  number  of  total  illiterates 
is  very  small  in  Turkey. 

Much  has  been  done,  however,  during  the  last 


EDUCATION  AND  ART  207 

generation  to  spread  education  in  Turkey  and  a 
new  system  of  schools  has  been  grafted  upon  the 
old  system  which  consisted  almost  exclusively  in 
small  public  schools — "Mahalle  Mektebi"  or  Dis- 
trict Schools  as  they  are  called — where  small  chil- 
dren are  taught  the  rudimentary  principles  of  the 
alphabet. 

These  District  Schools  exist  by  the  millions  all 
over  Turkey,  in  cities  as  well  as  in  the  country. 
Each  mosque — and  there  are  millions  of  them 
— has  its  own  private  District  School  where  the 
imam  or  clergyman  teaches  the  children  of  his 
district,  boys  and  girls,  how  to  read  the  Koran. 
The  classes,  if  they  might  be  called  by  that  name, 
are  mostly  held  in  summer  in  the  courtyard  of  the 
mosques  and  in  winter  in  a  room  which,  for  lack 
of  a  better  name,  we  will  describe  as  the  vestry. 
It  is  obligatory  for  every  family  living  in  the  dis- 
trict and  it  has  been  obligatory  for  centuries,  to 
send  their  children  to  these  schools  if  they  cannot 
afford  to  give  them  a  private  education.  Needless 
to  say  that  these  schools  are  absolutely  gratis. 

The  District  Schools  of  Turkey  are  a  sort  of 
primitive  community  Kindergarten  from  which 
games  and  plays  are  strictly  banned.  Their  pur- 
pose is  to  teach  children  how  to  read  the  Koran, 
and  reading  the  Koran  is  a  very  serious  matter. 
So,  for  two  hours  every  day  except  Fridays  lit- 
tle boys  and  little  girls  from  five  to  about  eight 
years  old  go  to  the  mosque  of  their  district  where 


208  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

the  classes  are  held.  Sitting  on  the  ground  in  sum- 
mer and  in  winter  on  straw  mats,  they  form  a 
circle  around  their  teacher,  the  imam  of  the  dis- 
trict, who  teaches  them  in  a  monotonous  chant  the 
secrets  of  the  alphabet  They  squat  on  their  knees, 
these  little  boys  and  girls,  and  repeat  the  chant 
of  their  teacher,  keeping  time  with  their  little 
bodies  which  they  swing  slowly  backwards  and 
forwards.  And  beware  of  a  mistake!  The  little 
pupil  who  makes  one,  who  indulges  in  a  childish 
prank  or  who  does  not  behave  according  to  the  se- 
vere discipline  which  must  be  respected  by  everyone 
who  is  learning  how  to  read  the  Koran  or  who  is 
in  the  exhalted  presence  of  an  imam,  is  reminded 
of  his  misdeed  by  the  swift  application  of  a  long, 
willowy  stick  on  his  hands  or  on  some  other  part 
of  his  anatomy.  The  teacher  keeps  this  stick  right 
next  to  him,  right  under  his  hand,  and  is  very 
quick  to  use  it. 

The  alphabet  is  first  memorized,  each  letter  be- 
ing accurately  described.  Of  course  the  Turkish 
alphabet  is  different  from  the  Latin  alphabet,  but 
the  system  could  be  applied  to  the  Latin  alphabet 
more  or  less  as  follows:  "A  is  a  triangle  with  a 
bar  in  the  middle" — "B  is  a  vertical  bar  with  two 
circles  on  the  right" — "C  is  a  crescent  facing  to 
the  right."  Thus  the  whole  alphabet  is  described 
in  a  monotonous  chant  for  days  and  months  until 
the  pupils  can  visualize  it  thoroughly.  Then  the 
sounds  of  syllables  are  memorized   according  to 


EDUCATION  AND  ART  209 

the  same  system  and  it  is  only  after  this  has  been 
done  thoroughly  that  the  children  are  permitted 
to  apply  the  knowledge  they  have  thus  acquired 
by  memory.  They  are  each  furnished  with  a 
Koran  and  they  are  taught  to  read  it  aloud.  Of 
course,  as  the  understanding  of  the  text  of  the 
Koran  requires  a  thorough  knowledge  of  Arabic, 
they  do  not  understand  what  they  read  and  those 
who  desire  to  acquire  this  knowledge  have  to  go 
to  the  Medresse  or  theological  schools,  of  which  we 
will  talk  later.  The  purpose  of  the  district  schools 
is  exclusively  to  teach  them  how  to  read,  and  when 
this  is  done  the  course  of  the  district  school  is 
finished. 

In  the  old  days  obligatory  education  only  ex- 
tended as  far  as  the  district  school.  This  is  not 
so  any  more.  During  the  past  twenty-five  or  thirty 
years  the  Government  has  created  high  schools 
in  the  principal  cities  and  towns  of  the  country 
where  modern  education  is  imparted  as  well  as 
the  restricted  means  of  the  impoverished  nation 
allows.  The  courses  of  these  high  schools  are 
also  free  and  their  program  is  meant  to  pre- 
pare the  pupils  for  college  studies.  They  are 
obligatory  only  for  boys.  The  system  is  good 
enough,  but  for  lack  of  funds  and  for  lack  of  peace 
the  Government  has  not  been  able  to  apply  it 
thoroughly  and  to  extend  it  as  much  as  it  was  orig- 
inally expected.  The  study  of  foreign  languages 
is  only  optional  and  very  theoretic  in  these  schools 


210  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

where  only  the  elements  of  arithmetic,  grammar, 
literature  and  history  are  taught. 

The  next  grade  is  the  college  which  corresponds 
to  the  French  Lycee  and  which  is  an  absolute  adap- 
tation to  Turkey  of  the  French  program.  The 
first  college  of  this  kind  in  Turkey  was  Galata 
Serai  which  was  organized  nearly  half  a  century 
ago  and  has  ever  since  kept  pace  with  the  French 
Lycees.  As  its  diploma  is  recognized  by  the 
French  Government  as  equivalent  to  that  of  any 
Governmental  French  College  this  institution  is 
a  sort  of  joint  Tur co-French  enterprise  and  is  used 
as  pattern  by  the  other  Turkish  Colleges.  Upon 
the  invitation  of  the  Turkish  Government  the 
French  Ministry  of  Public  Education  organ- 
ized Galata  Serai  and  the  French  cooperation  in 
this  non-sectarian  and  exclusively  educational  in- 
stitution has  continued  ever  since  its  formation, 
regardless  of  wars  or  political  entanglements.  The 
French  language  is  of  course  obligatory  and  the 
study  of  another  foreign  language  is  encouraged. 
The  principal  courses  are  given  during  the  first 
three  years  in  Turkish  and  during  the  last  two 
years  before  graduation  in  French.  An  institu- 
tion of  this  kind,  but  with  the  cooperation  of 
America  and  where  American  teachers  and  prin- 
cipals should  take  the  place  of  French  teachers  and 
principals,  would  do  more  for  the  spreading  of 
modern  education  on  practical  lines,  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  civilization  by  bringing  up  future 


EDUCATION  AND  ART  211 

Turkish  generations  capable  of  rationally  adapting 
to  the  Near  East  the  principles  of  democracy  as 
conceived  by  the  Americans  than  many  mission- 
ary schools. 

The  other  Turkish  Colleges  are  modelled  after 
Galata  Serai,  with  the  difference  that  while  French 
or  one  other  foreign  language  is  obligatory  all 
courses  are  given  in  Turkish,  and  their  teachers 
and  principals  are  Turks.  Although  these  insti- 
tutions are  not  free  the  tuition  fees  are  so  nom- 
inal that  the  Government  is  obliged  to  subzidize 
them.  At  present  the  fees  for  the  yearly  courses 
are  equivalent  to  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  dol- 
lars, including  lodging  and  food,  and  for  the  pur- 
pose of  making  it  easier  to  the  very  much  im- 
poverished population  the  Government  consents  to 
a  substantial  discount  on  these  fees  to  the  chil- 
dren and  relatives  of  Government  employees. 

Here  also  lack  of  funds  has  greatly  hampered 
the  organization  of  these  colleges  throughout  Tur- 
key. While  it  was  the  original  program  to  open 
one  such  college  in  every  city,  the  Government  has 
been  able  to  organize  and  maintain  only  about 
five  of  them  throughout  the  country,  and  as  only 
three  are  for  boys  and  two  for  girls  it  can  readily 
be  seen  that  they  do  not  suffice  for  the  requirements 
of  Turkey. 

In  addition  to  these  schools  and  colleges  there 
are  in  Turkey  many  academies  and  universities 
where  college  graduates  are  able  to  specialize  in 


212  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

the  different  branches  they  have  selected.  Most 
of  these  academies  and  universities  are  in  Con- 
stantinople, and  while  the  greatest  majority  are 
supported  by  the  Government  some  of  them  owe 
their  existence  to  private  endowments. 

In  late  years,  that  is  up  to  the  Armistice,  the 
Government  had  given  special  attention  principally 
to  two  institutions:  the  Naval  Academy  and  the 
Medical  Academy.  The  signing  of  the  Armistice 
with  the  consequent  dismantling  of  the  Turkish 
navy  brought,  of  course,  a  great  setback  to  the 
Naval  Academy  which  is  now  fighting  for  its 
life  against  tremendous  odds.  Naturally  the  navy 
of  Turkey  being  reduced  to  practically  nothing 
very  few  families  desire  to  send  their  children  to 
the  Academy.  In  addition  the  foreigners  who  con- 
trol Constantinople  do  not  look  with  a  very  favour- 
able eye  upon  the  maintenance  of  this  Academy 
for  fear  of  its  keeping  alive  a  militaristic  spirit. 
They  do  their  utmost  to  encourage  its  closing. 
This  is  the  more  regrettable  that  in  the  last  fifteen 
years  the  Academy  had  been  reorganized  so  thor- 
oughly that  it  was  in  all  points  comparable  to  any 
of  the  best  high-grade  educational  institutions  of 
the  world.  As  its  manager  told  me  once,  the  pur- 
pose of  the  Academy  was  to  form  real  men  so  that 
the  cadets  who  had  graduated  would  be  in  a  posi- 
tion to  enter  into  any  branch  of  modern  activity  in 
case  they  decided,  after  their  graduation,  to  quit 
the  navy.     The  best  proof  that  the  Academy  has 


EDUCATION  AND  ART  213 

most  efficiently  lived  up  to  this  principle  is  that 
after  the  Armistice  and  when  the  fleet  was  dis- 
mantled all  the  naval  officers  who  were  obliged  to 
leave  the  navy  succeeded  in  making  a  living,  and 
many  of  them  have  been  most  successful  in 
their  new  activities  as  business  men.  It  would 
be  a  shame  if  an  institution  which  had  so  marked- 
ly succeeded  in  forming  a  generation  of  real  men 
was  obliged  to  close  its  doors.  An  institution  for 
forming  generations  of  real  men  should  not  be 
allowed  to  die  just  because  of  the  dismantlement 
of  the  fleet. 

The  Medical  Academy  is  another  institution 
which  has  done  a  most  efficient  work  of  civilization 
in  Modern  Turkey.  It  can  be  said  that  the  Turk- 
ish "intelligentsia"  consists  mostly  of  doctors  and 
medical  students.  The  generation  of  Turkish 
physicians  which  the  Medical  Academy  has  formed 
has  taken  a  lead  among  European  medical  circles 
and  many  are  the  Turkish  doctors  whose  knowl- 
edge, activities  and  discoveries  in  medical  science 
have  earned  them  professorships  in  France  and 
Germany.  The  Medical  Academy,  which  is  situ- 
ated in  a  large  modern  building  near  the  station 
of  Haidar  Pasha,  the  headline  of  the  Bagdad 
Railroad,  is  completely  equipped  with  all  the  re- 
quirements of  modern  science.  It  also  maintains 
special  courses  for  nurses,  which  are  now  very 
popular  among  Turkish   women. 

It  would  be  tedious  to  talk  at  length  of  all  the 


214  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

industrial  schools  that  have  been  organized  in  the 
past  ten  or  fifteen  years  in  Turkey.  Suffice  it 
to  say  that  quite  a  number  of  them  are  in  existence. 
But  a  special  mention  should  be  made  of  the  two 
universities  of  Constantinople  as  they  are  up  to 
date  in  every  respect.  One  of  these  universities 
is  exclusively  for  women,  the  other  is  open  to 
both  sexes,  and  any  one  who  has  seen  a  mixed 
course  where  young  Turkish  women,  in  their  be- 
coming tcharshaf,  sit  on  the  same  benches  and 
study  side  by  side  with  men  students  can  only 
wonder  how  the  legend  of  the  seclusion  of  Turkish 
women  can  still  receive  credence  in  foreign 
countries. 

In  concluding  his  rapid  outline  of  Turkish 
schools  and  the  Turkish  educational  system,  my 
father  mentioned  the  different  art  schools  which 
are  now  prospering  in  Turkey  as  well  as  the 
medresses  or  theological  schools  where  the  Muslim 
religion  is  taught.  I  could  see  that  our  American 
friends  were  especially  interested  in  these  two 
subjects  and  as  we  were  leaving  my  father's  house 
I  was  not  surprised  to  have  my  impression  con- 
firmed. They  wanted  to  know  more  about  Turkish 
art  and  they  wanted  to  learn  something  about  the 
Muslim  religion.  Of  course  I  cannot  say  that  this 
surprised  me. 

Whenever  the  word  "art"  is  pronounced  in  con- 
nection with  Turkey,  it  awakens  in  the  mind  of  the 
westerners,  especially  the  Americans,  only  carpets, 


EDUCATION  AND  ART  215 

embroideries  and  laces,  and  dark-skinned,  thick- 
eyebrowed  Armenian  merchants  trying  to  sell  at 
exorbitant  prices  these  dainty  art  works  of  the 
Orient — purchased  by  them  for  a  song  generally 
from  some  poor  women  who  have  used  their  eyes, 
their  health  and  their  time  for  the  ultimate  purpose 
of  bringing  some  soothing  touch  of  colour  into 
the  modern  homes  of  Europe  and  America,  and 
many  many  dollars,  pound  sterlings,  or  napoleons, 
as  the  case  may  be,  into  the  bank  accounts  of  the 
dark-skinned,  thick-eyebrowed  merchants.  Even 
to  an  American  or  a  westerner  who  has  been  in 
Turkey  as  a  tourist  the  word  "Turkish  art"  does 
not  convey  much  more.  In  addition  to  carpets, 
embroideries  and  laces  he  may  visualize  some 
musty  copper  brazero,  some  delicate  handwritings 
with  painted  arabesques  of  flowers,  some  richly 
painted  porcelains  or  embossed  leather  bindings. 
All  things  which  spell  old  age.  In  modern  art  he 
would  only  visualize  some  Oriental  jewels — made 
in  Germany!  Few  are  the  foreigners  who  think 
of  Turkish  art  in  the  light  of  regular  paintings, 
architecture  or  music.  And  when  they  hear  of  art 
schools  their  curiosity  is  excited. 

As  far  as  the  Muslim  religion  is  concerned 
westerners  are,  as  a  rule,  even  more  ignorant 
on  this  subject  than  on  that  of  art.  They  think 
of  the  Muslims  as  unbelievers,  as  pagans  who 
deny  God  and  the  Christ,  as  fatalists  who  calmly 
await    the    fulfilment    of    the   prophecies    without 


2i6  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

having  enough  sense  to  get  out  of  the  rain 
even  when  it  pours.  The  only  activities  they  give 
the  Muslims  credit  for  are  massacres  and  atroci- 
ties. They  believe  that  theirs  alone  is  a  religion 
of  love  and  mercy  while  that  of  the  Muslim  is  one 
of  fire  and  blood.  I  remember  that  an  American 
from  Pittsburg,  upon  hearing  that  I  was  a  Muslim, 
asked  me  what  god  I  adored,  and  absolutely  re- 
fused to  believe  that  I  adored  the  One  Almighty 
God.  He  had  heard  that  we  prayed  to  Allah. 
Say  what  I  would  I  could  not  at  first  explain  to 
him  that  "Allah"  in  Arabic  means  God  in  English, 
and  he  was  only  half  convinced  when  I  told  him 
that  at  that  rate  the  French  were  also  unbelievers 
as  they  prayed  to  "Dieu." 

But  the  request  of  our  American  friends  was 
not  one  that  could  be  immediately  satisfied  as  I 
had  to  make  the  necessary  arrangements  to  visit 
the  art  schools  and  medresses  and  I  had  to  await 
an  opportunity  to  put  them  in  contact  with  people 
who  could  tell  them  more  of  Turkish  art  and  of 
the  Muslim  religion  than  I  could.  It  was  there- 
fore only  a  few  days  later  that  I  could  arrange  to 
take  them  to  the  Academy  of  Art  of  Constantino- 
ple, the  principal  school  of  its  kind  in  the  Near 
East,  where  no  other  city — not  even  Athens,  which 
is  still  considered  as  the  cradle  of  art — can  boast 
of  as  complete  and  progressive  an  art  academy. 

The  academy  is  located  in  the  Park  of  the  Old 
Seraglio,    right   next   to    the    Imperial    Museum. 


EDUCATION  AND  ART  217 

They  are  both  under  the  same  management,  and 
as  we  arrived  on  the  large  plaza,  shaded  by  old 
trees,  we  were  received  by  the  secretary  of  the 
manager,  a  cousin  of  mine,  whom  I  had  asked 
to  show  us  through  the  place  so  as  to  give  all 
available  information  to  our  friends. 

He  took  us  through  the  building  where  different 
classes  for  drawing,  painting  and  modelling  were 
being  held  in  different  rooms.  The  class-rooms  are 
large,  all  whitewashed  and  lighted  by  skylights 
and  big  windows.  The  whole  place  is  kept  im- 
maculately clean.  The  students  are  quite  numer- 
ous and  our  American  friends  were  surprised  to 
see  that  there  were  as  many  Turkish  girls  studying 
art  as  men.  "We  always  thought  of  Turkish 
women  as  hothouse  flowers, "  they  said,  "and  we 
were  very  much  surprised  to  see  when  we  arrived 
here  how  many  of  them  take  an  active  part  in  busi- 
ness and  in  the  e very-day  life  of  the  community. 
We  imagined  that  those  who  were  thus  active 
were  doing  it  out  of  necessity  because  they  had  to 
earn  a  living.  We  could  not  conceive  that  Turkish 
women  would  work  of  their  own  choice,  and  espe- 
cially would  spend  time  in  studying  art  which, 
after  all,  is  a  luxury." 

Kadry  Bey,  the  secretary  of  the  manager,  smiled 
and  said:  "Woman  is  the  materialization  of  art: 
is  it  surprising  that,  now  that  Turkish  women  have 
acquired  their  entire  emancipation,  they  should 
desire  to  study  a  science  the  knowledge  of  which 


218  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

gives  a  better  appreciation  of  their  own  attribute, 
beauty?  As  soon  as  these  classes  were  opened  to 
Turkish  women  only  a  few  years  ago,  they 
flocked  in  great  number  to  take  full  advantage  of 
the  opportunity  and  you  can  judge  for  yourself 
how  hard  they  are  working.  Some  of  them  have 
already  acquired  a  certain  renown,  and  one  of 
them,  a  former  pupil  of  this  academy,  Moukbile 
Hanoum,  has  just  written  us  from  Switzerland 
where  she  is  visiting,  that  one  of  her  pictures  had 
been  awarded  a  medal  at  an  international  exhibi- 
tion in  Berne." 

As  our  guests  wanted  to  know  if  there  were 
no  galleries  or  exhibitions  where  the  work  of 
Turkish  artists  could  be  seen,  Kadry  Bey  told 
them  of  the  bi-yearly  exhibitions  which  are  regu- 
larly held  in  Galata  Serai  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Turkish  Crown  Prince.  "His  Highness  Prince 
Abdul  Med j  id  Effendi,  heir  to  the  throne  of  the 
Sultans  and  future  Calif  of  the  Muslims,  is  an 
accomplished  artist  himself/'  said  Kadry.  "He 
is  one  of  our  most  active  leaders  and  enjoys  a 
reputation  as  a  painter  even  in  France.  His 
pictures  have  been  often  exhibited  at  the  Paris 
Salon  and  there  also  a  Turkish  artist  has  received 
the  highest  recognition  for  his  work.  Only  a 
short  time  after  the  armistice  one  of  the  pictures 
of  our  Crown  Prince  received  the  gold  medal. 
This  is  unquestionably  a  palpable  proof  of  the 
artistic   value   of   His    Highness's   work   as    the 


EDUCATION  AND  ART  219 

Committee  of  the  Paris  Salon  is  composed  of  the 
greatest  living  artists  in  the  world.  It  is  also  a 
splendid  illustration  of  the  saying  that  art  has  no 
country  as  French  artists  did  not  hesitate  to 
recognize  publicly  the  value  of  this  painting  by 
our  Crown  Prince  so  shortly  after  the  war.  If  you 
are  in  town  when  the  next  exhibition  is  held  at 
Galata  Serai  I  strongly  advise  you  to  visit  it. 
You  would  see  there  pictures  by  our  most  promi- 
nent artists,  as  O.  Hikmet,  M.  Refet,  Tchalizade 
Ibrahim  and  others,  whose  works  are  as  good  as 
any  of  the  modern  artists.  Most  of  them  follow 
the  classical  school  and  very  few  indeed  are  the 
Turkish  artists  who  practise  post-impressionism 
and  other  extreme  styles.  You  probably  would 
have  an  opportunity  of  seeing  at  the  exhibition  the 
Crown  Prince  himself  as  His  Highness  goes 
there  practically  every  day  and  you  would  surely 
be  interested  in  seeing  the  democratic  way  in 
which  he  talks  and  jokes  with  the  other  artists." 
Our  friends  wanted  to  know  something  more 
about  the  Crown  Prince.  So  my  wife  and  I  told 
them  of  the  time  we  had  the  privilege  of  hearing 
a  few  of  his  compositions  played  by  the  orchestra 
of  the  Imperial  Palace.  It  was  at  a  charity  con- 
cert given  for  the  benefit  of  the  Turkish  refugees 
of  Anatolia.  Prince  Abdul  Medjid  Effendi  was 
there  personally  and  although  his  compositions 
were  not  included  in  the  program,  the  audience 
asked  and  insisted  on  having  them,  much  to  His 


22o  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

Highness's  embarrassment.  As  a  true  artist  the 
Prince  hates  publicity  and  his  activities  as  a 
painter  or  as  a  composer  are  not  at  all  meant 
for  public  consumption — as  were  those  of  the 
Kaiser — but  simply  for  his  own  satisfaction  and 
for  the  pleasure  of  a  few  privileged  friends. 

Thus  talking,  we  were  visiting  the  different 
class-rooms  of  the  academy.  Kadry  Bey  intro- 
duced us  to  some  of  the  teachers  and  to  one  or 
two  of  the  most  advanced  pupils  and  as  we  finished 
our  visit  he  asked  us  into  the  reception  room 
of  the  manager  who,  being  absent  for  the  day, 
had  asked  him  to  have  us  to  tea  in  his  place. 

As  we  had  to  cross  the  Museum  we  stopped  on 
our  way  to  admire  once  more  the  famous  sarco- 
phagus of  Alexander,  which  is  said  to  have  con- 
tained the  remains  of  Alexander  the  Great  of 
Macedonia  and  which  is  the  pride  not  only  of  the 
Museum  but  also  of  all  Turks.  Hamdi  Bey,  the 
founder  of  the  Museum,  unearthed  it  himself  in 
the  plains  of  Anatolia,  not  far  from  Smyrna,  and 
I  remember  his  telling  me  personally  that  he  was 
so  excited  and  exhilarated  when  he  discovered  this 
peerless  jewel  of  antique  art  that  for  two  days  and 
one  night  he  and  his  assistants  worked  consecu- 
tively without  sleep,  without  food.  Finally  the 
second  night  arrived  and  as  the  delicate  work  was 
not  yet  finished  Hamdi  Bey  fell  asleep  from  sheer 
exhaustion,  but  lying  close  to  the  sarcophagus, 
in  the  earth  that  had  hidden  it  for  so  many  cen- 


EDUCATION  AND  ART  221 

turies,  so  that  he  could  at  least  feel  his  priceless 
find  during  his  sleep. 

The  present  manager  of  the  Imperial  Museum 
is  Hamdi  Bey's  brother  and  succeeded  him  after 
his  death.  I  had  an  occasion  of  meeting  him  only 
a  few  days  ago  and  the  sight  of  the  Sarcophagus 
of  Alexander  brings  back  to  me  the  recollection 
of  this  meeting.  I  was  coming  out  of  the  Sublime 
Porte  with  Izzet  Pasha,  the  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  when  we  met  the  manager  of  the  Museum, 
Halil  Bey.  Izzet  Pasha  stopped  and  addressed 
him:  "I  have  bad  news  to  give  you,"  said  he,  "a 
powerful  foreign  group  has  approached  me  to- 
day and  has  informed  me  that  it  was  willing  to 
pay  any  price  the  Government  wanted  for  the 
Sarcophagus  of  Alexander."  Halil  Bey  was  dumb- 
founded. The  prospect  of  losing  the  most  cher- 
ished possession  of  his  Museum,  discovered  by  his 
own  brother,  was  too  momentous,  too  enormous  a 
blow.  But  his  fears  were  put  at  rest  by  Izzet 
Pasha  when  the  Minister  added  with  a  smile.  "I 
have  answered  them  that  the  loss  of  the  Sarco- 
phagus would  be  considered  by  the  Imperial  Gov- 
ernment as  great  a  loss  as  that  of  the  wealthiest 
province  of  the  Empire,  Mesopotamia,  the  historic 
City  of  Bagdad  and  its  rich  oil  fields  not  excepted, 
and  that  therefore  it  could  never  entertain  even 
the  possibility  of  selling  the  sarcophagus.  No 
matter  how  poor  we  might  be  the  price  to  be  paid 
for  the  possession  of  the  sarcophagus  will  always 


222  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

have  to  be  reckoned  in  corpses  on  battlefields  and 
not  in  money  on  a  counter" !  This  little  incident 
gives  a  graphic  idea  of  the  degree  of  appreciation 
in  which  the  Turks  hold  their  art  treasures. 

As  we  were  having  tea  in  the  reception  room 
of  Halil  Bey  we  talked  of  his  family  and  of  how 
much  the  art  renaissance  in  Turkey  owed  to  them 
all.  Besides  Hamdi  Bey,  who  has  left  an  undying 
name  in  the  annals  of  Turkish  history  both  as  the 
founder  of  the  Imperial  Museum  and  as  the  creator 
of  the  Art  Academy,  besides  the  fact  that  his 
brother,  Halil  Bey,  has  followed  in  his  path  and 
is  continuing  the  work  undertaken  by  him,  it 
is  worth  mentioning  that  Hamdi  Bey's  son  is  a 
distinguished  architect  to  whom  is  due  the  beauti- 
ful buildings  of  the  Museum  and  of  the  Acad- 
emy. This  distinguished  family  has  unquestion- 
ably done  more  for  the  revival  of  art  in  Turkey 
than  any  one  family  has  done  .for  art  in  any 
other  country.  And  it  was  almost  a  pleasure 
that  Halil  Bey  was  not  present  as  we  could  more 
freely  talk  of  his  services  and  of  those  of  his 
family  within  the  very  walls  which  had  been 
erected  by  them  and  filled  by  them  with  treasures 
discovered  through  their  own  initiative  and  work. 

Our  American  friends  admitted  that  this  visit 
had  thrown  a  different  light  on  their  conception 
of  art  in  Turkey  and  its  appreciation  by  the  Turks, 
but  as  they  were  not  satisfied  until  they  had 
seen  some  other  art  school  I  took  them  next  day 


EDUCATION  AND  ART  223 

to  the  Darul-Elhan,  the  Turkish  School  of  Music 
for  Girls  and  we  had  the  good  fortune  to  assist  in 
a  most  interesting  concert.  This  school  was 
founded  and  is  being  managed  by  Senator  Zia 
Pasha,  who  was  Turkish  Ambassador  in  Wash- 
ington a  few  years  before  the  war.  It  is  lo- 
cated in  an  old  palace  in  the  very  heart  of  Stam- 
boul.  Our  American  friends  were  quite  impressed 
by  the  knowledge  that  they  were  to  hear  and  see, 
in  the  proper  setting  where  their  ancestors  had 
been  recluses,  free  and  emancipated  Turkish  girls 
playing  and  singing  for  the  benefit  of  strangers. 
To  the  accompaniment:  of  violins,  lutes  and  long- 
stemmed  "tambours"  these  Turkish  girls  with  the 
full  knowledge  possessed  only  by  accomplished 
artists  and  with  the  soft,  velvety  voices  so  typical 
of  the  Orient,  sang  and  played  a  selection  of  the 
most  complicated,  classical  music  as  well  as  charm- 
ing little  folksongs.  Zia  Pasha  was  there  himself 
and  as  I  introduced  him  to  our  friends  he  ex- 
pressed the  wish  that  more  foreigners  would 
make  it  a  point,  when  in  Constantinople,  to  assist 
at  such  concerts:  "Perhaps,"  said  he,  "if  for- 
eigners studied  our  music  better  its  reputation 
for  weirdness  and  montony  would  give  place  to 
one  of  softness  and  melody.  Perhaps  foreigners 
would  even  be  able  to  detect  in  our  music  all  the 
accords  and  measures  they  relish  so  much  in  mod- 
ern Russian  music  such  as  that  of  Rimsky  Korsa- 
koff, which  after  all  is  nothing  more  or  less  than 
the  orchestration  of  our  Oriental  music." 


XIII 
A  GLIMPSE  OF  ISLAM 

PHE  week  following  our  visit  to  the  Darul- 
Elhan  and  the  concert  which  was  given 
there,  I  had  an  opportunity  to  arrange  a  meeting 
for  our  American  friends  .with  the  leader  of  one 
of  our  Muslim  sects,  Hassan  Effendi,  who  had 
been  described  to  me  as  one  of  the  most  advanced 
and  broadminded  theologians  of  Islam.  A  friend 
of  mine  who  was  a  follower  of  Hassan  Effendi 
was  to  take  us  to  his  house  and  we  were  to  go 
there  from  our  own  home  in  Stamboul,  as  that  was 
the  most  convenient  place  where  we  could  all 
meet. 

On  the  appointed  day  and  about  an  hour  before 
the  time  fixed  for  our  audience  with  Hassan 
Effendi  our  American  friends  arrived.  My  wife 
was  delighted  to  see  the  genuine  interest  they 
were  taking  in  the  Turks  and  in  the  Muslim  re- 
ligion and  encouraged  them  in  asking  questions. 
She  believes,  and  I  think  rightly,  that  the  more 
intimately  the  Turks  are  known,  the  less  credence 
foreigners  can  attach  to  all  the  malicious  accounts 
which  are  being  circulated  by  interested  propa- 
gandists.     She    believes    that    the    best    way    to 

224 


'A  GLIMPSE  OF  ISLAM  225 

find  out  if  the  Turks  are  really  terrible  is  to  take 
the  trouble  to  know  them,  the  best  way  to  prove 
that  they  are  not  "unspeakable"  is  to  speak  about 
them. 

Our  friends  were  especially  at  a  loss  to  explain 
why,  as  long  as  there  was  such  an  active  revival 
of  art  in  Turkey,  so  few  foreigners  knew  about  it, 
even  among  those  who  are  in  Constantinople. 
My  wife  explained  this: 

"The  trouble  is,"  she  said,  "that  most  foreigners 
who  live  in  Constantinople  band  together  and  will 
not  mix  with  the  people  of  the  country.  They  do 
not  take  the  trouble  to  learn  the  language,  they 
do  not  bother  to  make  friends  with  the  people. 
They  live  in  small,  self-sufficient  groups.  I  am 
sure  that  if  they  only  knew  how  much  they  miss  by 
doing  this,  they  would  revise  their  mode  of  living, 
and  they  would  find  out  that  instead  of  its  being 
a  trouble  or  a  bother  to  learn  Turkish  and  to  make 
friends  with  the  Turks  it  is,  on  the  contrary,  a  real 
pleasure.  Of  course  the  Turks  are  also  somewhat 
to  blame  as  they — at  least  those  who  are  not  over- 
westernized,  and  they  are  the  best — do  not  make 
an  effort  to  mix  with  foreigners  or  to  Turkicize 
the  foreign  elements  who  are  established  in  their 
country.  But  after  all  I  understand  their  point 
of  view  as  I  know  how  we  feel  in  America  about 
the  foreigners  who  come  to  the  States  and  do  not 
assimilate.  And  as  for  "Turkicizing"  even  the  for- 
eign elements  who  are  established  here,  we  must 


226  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

not  forget  that  in  all  matters  the  world  has  two 
standards,  one  for  the  western  nations  and  the 
other  for  Turkey.  When  we,  in  the  States,  en- 
deavour to  Americanize  foreigners  who  have  come 
to  live  with  us,  the  world  admires  us  and  calls 
America  "the  melting-pot" — but  if  the  Turks  ever 
dare  to  try  to  apply  the  principles  of  equality  of 
all  Ottoman  citizens  without  distinction  of  race 
or  creed,  the  whole  world  jumps  on  them  and 
claims  that  they  are  endeavouring  to  destroy  the 
rights  of  minorities.  Anyhow,  the  reason  why  the 
revival  of  art  in  Turkey  is  not  much  known  by 
foreigners  is  because  they  have  not,  so  far,  in- 
vestigated with  open  heart  and  open  mind  the  in- 
tellectual activities  now  under  way  in  Turkey.  As 
soon  as  foreigners  will  give  up  their  self-suffi- 
ciency, as  soon  as  they  will  mingle  with  the  people 
and  will  be  willing  to  consider  themselves  as 
guests  in  the  country,  they  will  be  received 
with  open  arms  in  Turkish  communities.  And 
then  probably  someone  will  "discover"  Turkish 
art  and  it  will  become  fashionable  throughout 
the  West,  just  as  some  years  ago  Russian  art  was 
discovered  and  became  fashionable  in  Europe  and 
in  America." 

Our  friends  wanted  also  to  know  how  it  was 
that,  although  Turkish  culture  did  after  all  ante- 
date modern  European  culture,  as  it  was  the  con- 
tinuation of  the  Arabic  civilization  of  the  middle 
ages,  art — with  the  exception  of  applied  art — was 


A  GLIMPSE  OF  ISLAM  227 

only  of  a  recent  origin  in  Turkey.  I  was  glad 
to  answer  to  this  question,  as  it  took  us  into  the 
subject  which  we  wanted  to  investigate  to-day, 
that  of  religion. 

"Nearly  seven  hundred  years  before  Protestant 
leaders  forbade  the  use  of  pictures  and  sculptures 
in  their  Church,  the  Prophet  Mohamed  had  simi- 
larly prohibited  the  reproduction  of  any  human 
or  animal  form  within  the  walls  of  mosques.  Ig- 
norant people  praying  before  the  image  of  a  saint 
or  of  a  prophet  are  liable  to  adore  the  material 
picture  or  sculpture  rather  than  the  spirit  it  rep- 
resents. I  believe  that  idolatry  is  a  direct  out- 
come of  this  human  tendency.  The  worship  of 
idols  in  antiquity  and  of  images  in  certain  ignorant 
modern  communities  is  a  deterioration  of  origi- 
nally spiritual  teachings.  Therefore,  to  prevent 
the  repetition  of  a  similar  deterioration  by  his  fol- 
lowers Mohamed  ruled  that  they  should  banish  all 
images  from  places  where  they  prayed.  But  this 
restriction  was  originally  placed  on  the  use  and 
not  on  the  production  of  images:  silver  money 
coined  at  the  time  of  Mohamed  bears  the  effigy 
of  the  prophet.  However,  in  the  course  of  time 
his  successors  went  so  far  beyond  his  teachings  and 
his  example  that  they  altogether  forbade  even 
the  creation  of  images.  Thus  the  coins  of  all 
Muslim  rulers  were  made  to  bear  their  names 
instead  of  their  likeness,  and  for  centuries  Muslim 
artists,  including  the  Turks,  devoted  their  genius 


228  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

to  creating  exclusively  decorative  art  representing 
writings,  arabesque  designs,  or  flowers.  It  was, 
therefore,  only  as  education  spread  among  the 
people  of  all  classes,  it  was  only  after  even  the 
masses  began  to  understand  the  true  purpose  of 
the  restriction  placed  on  the  use  of  reproductions 
of  living  beings,  it  was  only  about  ten  or  fifteen 
years  ago  that  Turkish  artists  branched  out  into 
these  heretofore  forbidden  fields  of  art.  Thus  the 
delay  in  the  development  of  art  in  Turkey  is  due 
to  religious  reasons.  But  even  at  that  I  consider 
it  salutory;  after  all  it  is  much  better  to  have  in 
its  infancy  that  branch  of  art  which  reproduces 
living  beings  than  to  have  religion  stained  by 
idolatry — especially  as  the  other  branches  of  art 
were  permitted  to  follow  their  natural  develop- 
ment. No  one  can  say  that  the  Muslims,  the 
Orientals,  have  not  a  keen  appreciation  of  colour 
and  design,  no  one  can  say  that  the  restriction 
placed  on  art  has  atrophied  their  sense  of  beauty." 
As  I  was  finishing  these  remarks,  my  friend 
Emin  Bey,  who  was  to  take  us  to  Hassan  Effendi, 
arrived  and  we  started  on  our  way.  Emin  Bey 
speaks  perfect  French.  He  is  one  of  the  high 
employees  of  the  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
but  he  does  not  know  English  and  told  us 
that  neither  Hassan  Effendi  nor  probably  any 
one  that  we  might  meet  at  his  house  would 
speak  English.  So  we  decided  that  I  should  be 
the  translator  and  I  told  our  American   friends 


A  GLIMPSE  OF  ISLAM  229 

to  ask  without  reticence  any  question  they  might 
wish. 

Hassan  Effendi  lives  in  Stamboul  not  far  from 
the  Mosque  of  Sultan  Soliman,  but  on  a  side  street. 
So  when  we  reached  the  square — in  the  center  of 
which  has  been  built  in  recent  years  a  monument 
to  two  "aces"  of  the  Turkish  Aerial  Fleet  who 
died  on  the  battlefield — we  turned  to  the  right  and 
entered  a  narrow  street.  We  passed  under  the 
arches  of  the  old  Roman  Aqueduct,  at  the  foot 
of  which  were  built  little  wooden  shacks  covered 
with  tin  plates  which  had  been  in  other  days 
Standard  Oil  cans.  These  shacks  are  the  tempo- 
rary abode  of  many  Turkish  refugees  in  Con- 
stantinople, people  who  have  been  left  homeless 
either  by  the  war  or  by  the  numerous  fires  which 
have  devastated  the  city  in  recent  years.  Soon  we 
reached  the  barren  sides  of  a  hill  covered  with 
ruins,  the  very  center  of  one  of  these  fires.  On  the 
top  of  the  hill  and  a  little  to  the  left  was  a  small 
group  of  houses  clustering  about  each  other,  a 
little  mosque  and  a  very  old  mausoleum.  Here 
also  was  the  house  of  Hassan  Effendi,  on  what 
used  to  be  the  corner  of  a  street,  a  tiny  house 
with  whitewashed  bricks,  an  arched  porch  and 
a  covered  gallery  which  gave  on  a  miniature 
garden.  Through  the  columns  of  this  gallery  one 
could  see  two  old  trees — a  fig  tree  and  a  cypress 
— two  giants  which,  with  the  climbing  vines  on 


23d  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

the  old  walls,  gave  to  the  whole  place  the  aspect 
of  the  inner  yard  of  a  mediaeval  cloister. 

The  inside  of  the  house  was  meticulously  clean. 
All  the  walls  are  whitewashed  and  the  floors  are 
covered  with  white  straw  matting,  with  no  rugs  or 
carpets,  except  in  the  corner  of  the  central  hall, 
where  was  a  folded  prayer  rug.  Probably  the 
master  prays  here  when  he  does  not  go  to  the 
mosque.  On  the  windows  are  little  curtains  of 
white  muslin,  hanging  loose  and  straight.  On  the 
walls  only  a  few  framed  writings  beautifully 
decorated.  I  translated  them  for  the  benefit  of  our 
friends;  one  says:  "Only  God  is  eternal,  all  else 
is  temporary";  the  other  asked  for  Divine  guid- 
ance, a  third  proclaimed  the  Oneness  of  God.  All 
around  and  against  the  walls  are  low  divans,  with 
pillows,  covered  with  silks  of  soft  hues.  This  is 
the  only  furniture,  the  only  luxury,  the  only  touch 
of  colour  in  the  room. 

We  were  announced  and  immediately  ushered 
into  Hassan  Effendi's  room,  a  room  similar  to  the 
one  we  left.  He  advanced  to  greet  us  at  the  door. 
He  is  an  old  man,  a  patriarch  with  a  white  beard 
and  blue  eyes  which  have  contemplated  the  infinite. 
He  wore  a  white  turban  and  a  long  flowing  robe 
of  black  silk.  He  shook  hands  with  all  of  us  and 
as  I  tried  to  kiss  his  hand  in  sign  of  respect,  he 
withdrew  it  hastily  and  placed  it  on  his  breast,  a 
token  of  gratitude.  He  asked  us  to  sit  down  and 
took  himself  a  place  in  a  corner,  near  the  window 


A  GLIMPSE  OF  ISLftM  231 

from  where  he  could  see  the  endless  sky,  the  hills 
of  Stamboul  with  all  their  mosques  and  a  strip  of 
blue  water,  the  Golden  Horn.  Under  his  windows 
are  the  ruins  of  man-made  buildings,  ephemeral 
homes  which  were  destroyed  in  one  night  of  ter- 
ror, leaving  their  inhabitants  without  any  earthly 
possessions — their  whole  having  been  devoured  by 
the  flames.  After  every  one  was  seated  the  master 
saluted  us  with  his  hand,  each  one  separately: 
"Selamu'  Aleykum — Peace  be  with  you"! 

Coffee  was  served  and  to  make  us  feel  at  home 
Hassan  Effendi  asked  us  to  smoke.  He  does  not 
smoke  himself.  He  asked  how  our  American 
friends  liked  the  Orient  and  what  had  interested 
them  in  Turkey.  Upon  my  telling  him,  at  their 
request,  that  they  were  mostly  interested  in  edu- 
cation, especially  religious  education,  and  that  they 
wanted  to  know  something  about  our  religion,  he 
turned  to  me  and  said: 

"Tell  them,  my  son,  that  education  is  one  of  the 
principal  bases  of  Islam.  The  Holy  Book  makes 
it  obligatory  for  all  Muslims  to  know  at  least 
how  to  read  and  says  that  those  who  serve  science, 
serve  God.  The  early  Muslims  practised  this 
teaching  so  thoroughly  that  only  a  few  generations 
after  the  Prophet  all  the  Arab  nations  of  the 
world,  united  under  Islam,  became  the  center  of 
science  and  civilization.  Algebra,  chemistry, 
astronomy  and  many  other  modern  sciences  still 
bear  the  names  given  to  them  by  their  Muslim 


232  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

discoverers.  The  schools  of  the  Muslim  world 
were  so  far  advanced  that  even  to-day  the  West 
resounds  with  the  fame  of  the  great  teachers  of 
the  Universities  of  Bagdad,  Cairo  and  Granada. 
The  West  had  its  dark  age  before  it  came  in 
touch  with  the  East,  and  the  European  Renais- 
sance started  after  the  first  contact  Europe  had 
with  the  Orient.  Whereas  the  East  had  its  dark 
age  after  it  came  into  touch  with  the  West,  and 
decadence  in  the  Orient  set  in  after  its  first  con- 
tact with  Europe.  The  crusaders  took  away  our 
knowledge  together  with  the  riches  of  Haroun- 
El-Rashid  and  of  Saladin  and  left  us  discouraged, 
despondent  and  demoralized.  That  it  has  taken 
us  such  a  long  time  to  shake  ourselves  free  from 
the  evil  consequences  of  the  invasions  we  suffered 
is  of  course  a  little  our  own  fault.  But  this  is 
especially  due  to  th$  fact  that  the  crusades,  that  is, 
the  rush  of  the  West  into  the  East,  has  continued 
throughout  all  these  centuries,  giving  us  no  peace, 
no  rest.  Now  that  the  Holy  Lands  have  been 
conquered  by  the  West,  let  us  hope  that  at  last  we 
will  have  peace,  let  us  hope  that  East  and  West 
will  at  last  be  able  to  work  out  together  the  mis- 
understanding they  have  had  for  hundreds  of 
years  and  that  they  will  be  able  to  establish  once 
for  all  the  principles  of  unity:  Oneness  of  God, 
oneness  of  nature,  oneness  of  mankind — without 
which  the  basis  of  solid  democracy  in  this  world 
cannot  be  established. 


A  GLIMPSE  OF  ISLAM  233 

"But  tell  our  friends  that  they  must  not  think 
that  during  all  these  centuries  the  Muslim  world 
has  remained  absolutely  stationary  and  has  com- 
pletely neglected  education.  The  original  Muslim 
educational  system  has  continued  even  if  the 
teachers  were  not  as  learned,  even  if  a  smaller 
proportion  of  people  frequented  the  schools  and 
universities. 

"The  Muslim  educational  system  is  based  upon 
the  Medresses  or  theological  colleges.  There  is 
no  Muslim  community  in  the  world  which  has  not 
its  own  Medresse.  These  institutions  are  sup- 
ported by  perpetual  endowments  which  have  been 
made  from  time  to  time  by  the  wealthy  Muslims 
of  the  community,  endowments  representing 
mostly  real  estate  and  properties  whose  income  is 
used  to  keep  up  the  Medresses  where  students  are 
housed  and  fed  during  all  the  years  it  takes  them 
to  finish  their  courses  in  theological  science.  The 
Medresses  are  absolutely  free  and  their  endow- 
ments are  administered  by  the  Evkaf  which  is, 
after  all,  nothing  else  than  an  enormous  trust  com- 
pany whose  duty  is  to  take  care  of  and  develop  the 
properties  which  have  been  perpetually  donated 
for  all  religious  and  charitable  purposes.  Each 
deed  of  trust  has  been  made  for  a  special  purpose 
and  its  beneficiary  is  clearly  mentioned.  In  this 
way  all  Medresses  have  their  own  particular  source 
of  income  as  well  as  all  the  hospitals  and  orphan 
asylums  of  the  Evkaf.     The  system  is  excellent 


234  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

and  could  not  be  improved.  What  could  and  what 
should  be  improved  is  first  the  administration  of 
the  Evkaf  trusts,  which  will  thus  allow  the  mod- 
ernization of  all  beneficiary  institutions,  and  sec- 
ond after  the  needed  funds  have  been  made  avail- 
able by  such  a  reorganization,  the  educational 
program  of  the  Medresses." 

Our  friends  wanted  to  know  if  it  would  be  pos- 
sible to  give  the  reorganization  of  the  Evkaf  to 
some  American  business  men  whose  organizing 
skill  had  been  demonstrated. 

"In  principle  there  would  be  nothing  against 
this,"  said  Hassan  EfTendi,  "but  I  am  afraid  that 
in  practise  it  would  be  impossible.  Despite  all 
their  profession  of  Christian  love,  westerners 
have  never  undertaken  anything  in  the  East  with- 
out its  becoming  soon  apparent  that  they  had  an 
ulterior  motive.  Look  at  all  the  different  foreign 
educational  institutions  in  the  Orient.  Are  they 
here  just  for  the  love  of  spreading  education  or 
for  trying  to  convert  our  children  to  their  own 
creed"? 

As  he  was  asked  about  the  program  of  studies 
followed  in  the  Medresses  Hassan  Effendi  ex- 
plained that  while  the  principal  aim  was  the  study 
of  religion  Medresses  were  originally  meant  to 
teach  all  sciences.  The  Koran  contains  not  only 
the  principles  on  which  the  laws  and  the  economic 
structure  of  Muslim  countries  have  been  built, 
but  also  the  principles  of  astronomy — which  ne- 


A  GLIMPSE  OF  ISLAM  235 

cessitates  a  deep  knowledge  of  higher  mathematics 
— of  natural  history  leading  to  the  research  of  the 
species,  and  of  ancient  history.  Therefore,  stu- 
dents of  the  Koran  have  also  to  study  all  these 
sciences  and,  as  the  Holy  Book  orders  them  to 
go  as  deeply  as  possible  into  all  the  subjects  it 
mentions,  the  courses  of  Medresses  should  really 
be  equivalent  to  those  of  the  highest  universities. 
We  were  all  very  much  interested  to  hear  that 
the  Koran  explicitly  states  that  the  earth  is  round 
and  that  together  with  other  planets  it  revolves 
around  the  sun,  that  other  solar  systems  are  in 
existence  in  the  universe,  that  life  originally 
started  in  water.  Many  other  theories  which 
have  been  scientifically  ascertained  since  the  time 
of  the  Prophet  are  also  stated  in  the  Koran  al- 
though the  theories  commonly  accepted  at  that 
time  were  absolutely  contrary  to  them. 

Our  American  friends  took  advantage  of  the 
turn  the  conversation  had  taken  to  ask  a  few 
questions  on  the  Muslim  religion.  They  wanted  to 
know  the  difference,  if  any,  between  Mahom- 
medans  and  Muslims,  what  the  Muslim  creed  was, 
and  what  the  title  of  Calif  meant.  Hassan  Effendi 
answered  in  detail  all  these  questions  and  I  will 
try  to  give  below  if  not  word  for  word  at  least  the 
summary  of  his  answers. 

'To  begin  with/'  said  he,  "the  appellation  of 
"Mahomedan"  does  not  exist  in  the  East  It 
is  only  the  westerners  who,  having  called  them- 


236  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

selves  Christians,  or  followers  of  Christ,  have 
named  Mohamedans,  the  followers  of  Mohamed. 
This,  however,  is  as  wrong  and  misleading  as  if 
the  Hebrew  were  to  be  called  "Moseans."  The 
Hebrews  do  not  follow  only  Moses,  they  believe 
also  in  all  their  other  prophets,  beginning  with 
Israel.  Therefore,  if  they  were  to  be  called  Mose- 
ans it  would  imply  that  they  only  believed  in  Moses 
and  would  not  be  correct.  This  applies  also  to  the 
Muslims  and  to  call  them  Mahomedan  is  abso- 
lutely misleading.  The  Muslims  believe  in  all 
prophets,  including  all  the  Israelite  prophets  and 
the  Christ.  So  the  term  Mahomedan  is  wrong 
and  is  not  used  in  the  East. 

"We  call  ourselves  "Muslims"  which  means  in 
Arabic,  followers  of  Islam  or  followers  of  the 
Road  of  Salvation.  This  is  a  better  appellation 
and  I  often  wish  that  instead  of  calling  themselves 
by  names  which  convey  to  the  average  people,  only 
an  idea  of  a  person  or  of  a  race,  the  different 
churches  had  chosen  to  translate  into  their  own 
language  the  exact  meaning  of  their  appellation. 
Then  there  would  be  less  difference  and  therefore 
less  antagonism  between  religions.  Take  for 
instance  the  Christians  and  the  Muslims.  If  when 
speaking  a  common  language  they  both  trans- 
lated the  meaning  of  their  appellation  into  it  in- 
stead of  using  words  of  Arabic  and  Greek  origin, 
they  would  soon  realize  that  their  creed  was  identi- 
cal.      'Christ'     means     'Saviour.'       A     Christian 


A  GLIMPSE  OF  ISLAM  237 

therefore  is  a  'follower  of  the  Saviour/  Doesn't 
this  term  alone  bring  him  nearer  to  his  brother, 
the  'follower  of  the  Road  of  Salvation'? 

"In  the  Koran  there  is  absolutely  no  difference 
between  all  people  who  believe  in  the  One  Al- 
mighty God,  all  inclusive  and  powerful,  no  matter 
by  what  name  they  call  themselves.  The  only 
difference  that  is  made  between  human  beings 
is  that  all  those  who  believe  in  one  God  are  placed 
in  one  group  and  all  those  who  deny  the  oneness 
of  God,  the  Pagans  or  Idolaters,  are  placed  in 
another.  It  is  said  that  God  has  sent  from  time 
to  time  prophets  to  bring  the  people  into  the  path 
of  truth,  that  all  these  prophets  came  with  a  book 
within  which  the  immutable  principles  of  truth 
were  clearly  enunciated,  and  that  as  truth  can 
only  be  one  all  the  books  of  the  prophets  were  the 
same.  Therefore,  all  the  followers  of  these  dif- 
ferent prophets  are  called  "people  of  the  Book" 
and  they  are  all  brothers  to  the  Muslims.  They 
should  be  treated  as  such  and  only  the  Pagans 
and  Idolaters  should  be,  if  necessary,  coerced  into 
recognizing  the  oneness  of  God.  That  this  princi- 
ple was  most  firmly  established  is  evidenced  by 
the  early  history  of  Islam.  In  the  army  of  the 
Prophet,  the  army  which  conquered  Mecca  and 
destroyed  the  idols  of  the  Temple,  Christian  and 
Hebrew  soldiers  were  fighting  side  by  side  with 
their  Muslim  brothers  for  the  purpose  of  having 
the  oneness  of  God  recognized  by  Pagans.     And 


238  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

the  Muslims  never  fought  the  Christians  until  the 
ignorant  people  of  the  mediaeval  West,  roused  by 
lords  and  barons  in  quest  of  rich  spoils  and  ad- 
venture, embarked  on  the  Crusades  for  the  purpose 
of  'liberating'  the  Holy  Sepulchres  from  the  Mus- 
lims. That  might  have  been  all  right  for  the  ig- 
norant people  of  the  Middle  Ages,  but  isn't  it 
now  time  for  the  Christian  to  realize  that  despite 
the  fact  that  the  Holy  Sepulchres  have  been  'lib- 
erated' only  within  the  last  few  years  from  the 
Muslims,  despite  the  fact  that  for  more  than  a 
thousand  years  Jerusalem  has  been  under  the  rule 
of  Islam,  the  Holy  Sepulchres  have  fared  as  well 
under  the  Muslims  as  the  Cathedral  of  Saint  Peter 
in  Rome  has  under  Christians? 

"The  Muslims  have  always  guarded  the  Holy 
Places  in  Jerusalem  with  as  much  loving  care  and 
veneration  as  they  have  guarded  the  Holy  Places 
in  Mecca  or  in  Medina.  Why  shouldn't  they? 
The  Koran  has  taught  us  to  venerate  Jesus  Christ. 
We  believe  in  His  divine  mission  as  much  as  we 
believe  in  the  divine  mission  of  Mohamed.  We 
consider  Him  as  much  our  prophet  as  the  prophet 
of  the  Christians.  Our  creed  is  based  on  this 
belief  and  on  the  recognition  of  all  the  past  proph- 
ets. So  there  is  really  no  difference  between  us 
and  the  Christians  as  far  as  we  are  concerned.  The 
only  differences  that  exist  are  dogmatic  differences 
such  as  those  which  might  exist  even  between 
two  churches  of  the  same  religion.     And  in  our 


A  GLIMPSE  OF  ISLAM  239 

eyes  a  Christian  who  follows  the  principles  of 
Christ  and  who  does  not  deny  the  prophethood 
of  Mohamed  is  as  much  a  Muslim  as  any  one  of  us. 

"Of  course  we  do  not  consider  as  Christians 
those  who  adore  images.  The  Russian  who  ex- 
pects an  icon  to  perform  a  miracle  is  as  much  an 
idolater  to  our  eyes  as  any  one  who  adores  the 
stone  or  the  paint  with  which  the  statue  or  the 
picture  of  a  saint  is  made.  There  is  no  difference 
between  them  and  the  pagans  of  yore. 

"We  Muslims  go  even  farther  than  some 
Christians  in  our  belief  in  Christ.  We  are  taught 
that  the  Virgin  Mary,  in  her  religious  ardor,  was 
praying  the  Almighty  to  give  her  a  son  who  would 
bring  back  into  the  fold  his  erring  sheep  and 
that  the  people  upon  hearing  this  prayer  criticized 
and  shamed  her:  a  virgin  praying  for  a  child! 
'But  how  little  they  knew  the  ways  of  God/  says 
the  Koran.  Tn  answer  to  the  Virgin's  prayer  the 
Almighty  sent  her  one  of  His  Angels  in  the  like- 
ness of  a  human  and  she  begot  the  Christ/ 

"For  us,  God  is  not  material.  He  is  the  All- 
inclusive  Spirit  which  permeates  all  nature  and  the 
whole  universe.  He  is  the  Supreme  Conscious 
Force,  endowed  with  all  the  attributes,  who  rules 
the  universe.  He  is  Eternal:  He  never  begot  and 
never  was  begotten.  We  believe  in  Him  and  He 
only  do  we  adore.  We  believe  in  His  Angels, 
His  Holy  Books,  His  Prophets,  and  in  the  future 
life.    We  believe  that  He  ordains  everything,  our 


24o  SPEAKING  0E  THE  TURKS 

recompenses  as  well  as  our  punishments,  and  tKat 
there  is  no  God  but  He.  And  we  believe  that 
Mohamed  is  His  Messenger — who  revived  on  this 
earth,  as  all  prophets  before  Him,  the  true  religion 
as  taught  by  Abraham,  and  by  Moses  and  by 
Christ." 

The  master  was  silent  for  a  few  minutes.  His 
words  which  I  had  been  translating  sentence  by 
sentence  as  he  delivered  them,  had  impressed  us 
all  so  much  that  we  kept  quiet  and  awaited  pa- 
tiently for  more.  He  looked  out  from  the  window 
into  the  blueness  of  the  sky.  Then,  turning  again 
to  me  he  said  with  an  infinite  smile :  "How  simple 
it  all  is,  and  how  foolish  humanity  is  not  to 
understand" ! 

He  passed  his  hand  over  his  forehead  in  an 
effort  to  concentrate  on  more  material  subjects, 
he  sighed  and  said: 

"These  are  the  fundamental  principles  of  Islam. 
It  does  not  claim  to  be  the  religion  of  one  prophet, 
but  the  Religion  of  God  and  therefore  of  all 
prophets.  Truth  can  only  be  one,  and  religion 
is  truth.  It  is  the  fault  of  men  if  they  have  divided 
it  into  different  religions,  sects  and  churches.  It 
is  the  sin  of  men  that  they  have,  in  doing  so, 
turned  religion  from  its  most  useful  earthly  pur- 
pose: that  of  establishing  the  oneness  of  humanity, 
the  brotherhood  of  all  believers. 

"The  Muslim  religion  succeeded  in  doing  this 
during   the   first   centuries    of    its    inception.      It 


A  GLIMPSE  OF  ISLAM  241 

formed  the  first  true  democracy,  the  first  republic 
of  modern  times:  the  Caliphs,  the  chief  executives 
of  the  Muslim  world  were  chosen  by  election. 
But  it  went  even  further:  it  created  the  first 
League  of  Nations  in  the  world — all  the  Muslim 
states,  although  keeping  their  entire  independence, 
became  a  federation  under  the  administration  of 
a  single  elected  Caliph  and  extended  their  borders 
from  the  Himalayas  to  the  Atlantic.  And  within 
their  borders  all  those  who  believed  in  one  God 
lived  in  peace,  every  one  prospered,  science,  in- 
dustry and  commerce  flourished.  Freedom  of 
conscience,  freedom  of  creeds,  was  meticulously 
observed.  And  Christians  and  Jews  lived  and 
prospered  side  by  side  with  their  Muslim  brothers. 
The  millenium  would  have  truly  arrived  had  the 
western  nations  only  applied  these  same  princi- 
ples within  their  own  borders.  But  they  were  not 
yet  mature,  they  were  not  yet  ready  for  liberty, 
democracy  and  unity.  So  gradually  they  under- 
mined our  own  institutions.  Through  centuries  of 
continuous  contact  and  of  incessant  wars  they 
spread  discord  within  our  own  ranks.  We  became 
divided  first  into  separate  Caliphates,  then  into 
different  nations  and  finally  into  different  sects. 
Internal  strife  having  set  in,  we  were  condemned  to 
fall  sooner  or  later  under  the  conquering  heel  of  the 
West.  Decadence  crept  on  the  Muslim  world  slowly 
but  surely  until  Turkey  was  left  alone  to  face  the 
repeated  assault  of  the  different  western  nations. 


242  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

And  the  tragedy  of  the  long  agony  of  Turkey 
which  has  lasted  ever  since  the  sixteenth  century 
is  too  well  known  by  all  of  you  to  make  it  neces- 
sary for  me  to  repeat  it. 

"This  agony  has  culminated  with  the  general 
war.  And  let  us  hope  that  now  that  the  western 
nations  have  at  last  obtained  what  they  wanted — 
the  administration  of  the  Holy  Land  by  a  Chris- 
tian power — they  will  settle  down  to  work  and  find 
out  if  they  have  any  real  difference  of  principles 
with  the  Muslim  world.  Islam  has  passed  through 
its  darkest  days  and  now  it  is  gradually  reawaken- 
ing, it  is  becoming  again  conscious  of  the  basic 
truth  it  had  reached  during  its  first  years.  And 
sooner  or  later  the  Almighty  will  find  humanity 
ready  to  reflect  His  own  oneness.  The  time  is  near 
when  all  believers,  irrespective  of  denominations, 
creeds  or  sects  will  establish  throughout  the 
world  a  real  League  of  Nations  where  Christians, 
Jews  and  Muslims  will  live  in  peace,  a  real  League 
of  all  followers  of  Salvation  based  on  the  only 
possible  true  democracy:  the  brotherhood,  the 
unity  of  men." 

Hassan  Effendi  stopped  again  and  looked  at 
our  American  friends  who  seemed  to  be  very  much 
surprised.  "How  little  do  we  of  the  West  know 
of  the  religions,  the  ideals  and  the  hopes  of  the 
East,"  they  said;  "but  are  we  alone  to  blame? 
Why  doesn't  the  East  send  us  some  of  its  teachers, 
some  of  its  leaders  to  explain  to  us  its  creed  and 
its  belief  ?" 


A  GLIMPSE  OF  ISLAM  243 

Hassan  EfTendi  smiled:  "We  have  sent  you 
the  message  of  our  best  leader,  of  our  best  teacher 
and  you  have  had  it  with  you  for  nearly  two 
thousand  years/'  he  said.  "We  have  sent  you  the 
message  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  Christ,  the 
Apostle  of  Love  and  of  Mercy,  the  greatest  antag- 
onist of  riches  and  of  materialism.  In  later  years 
we  have  sent  you  in  person  the  greatest  living 
messenger  of  the  East,  Abdul  Baha,  who  warned 
the  world  years  before  the  beginning  of  the  war 
of  the  great  cataclysm  toward  which  humanity 
was  headed  and  who  preached  unity  and  oneness 
as  the  only  salvation.  What  good  did  it  do? 
The  West  has  always  coveted  the  East  for  the 
possession  of  the  Holy  Land — forgetting  that 
Palestine  is  an  Eastern  Land.  Up  to  the  last 
century  the  West  has  always  coveted  the  riches 
of  the  East,  forgetting  that  after  all  if  the  East 
had  all  these  riches  it  was  because  it  had  worked 
for  them.  Since  then,  and  taking  advantage  of 
the  decadence  into  which  we  have  fallen,  the  West 
has  looked  down  upon  the  East  for  its  lack  of 
ambition  for  the  possession  of  material  things  and 
has  tried  to  prove  its  inferiority  by  claiming  that 
it  had  not  contributed  to  modern  scientific  dis- 
coveries, forgetting  that  while  the  West  has  dis- 
covered the  telephone,  the  telegram,  electricity  and 
steam — all  things  which  make  material  life  worth 
living — it  is  the  East  which  discovered  God,  His 
Prophets  and  His  Holy  Books — all  things  which 


244  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

make  spiritual  life  worth  expecting.  And  con- 
trary to  the  custom  of  the  West,  the  East  has  not 
commercialized  its  discoveries;  it  has  given  them 
as  a  free  gift  to  humanity.  Christ  was  an  East- 
erner and  He  gave  freely  His  knowledge  to  the 
West.  And  now  that  the  West  has  acquired  our 
riches  and  our  lands  we  hope  that  it  will  soon 
recognize  that  it  has  also  our  God. 

"This  recognition,  this  knowledge  must,  how- 
ever, come  to  the  West  from  within.  No  mat- 
ter how  loud  we  claimed  it,  it  would  not  be 
believed.  Westerners  will  have  to  come  to  our 
country  and  see  for  themselves.  They  will  have 
to  investigate,  even  as  you  are  investigating.  They 
will  have  to  convince  themselves  that  the  religion 
taught  by  the  Prophet  Mohamed  is  one  and  the 
same  with  the  religion  taught  by  Christ.  They 
will  have  to  realize  that  any  one  who  follows 
either  of  them  is  following  the  Road  of  Salvation. 
And  then,  only  then,  will  the  peace  of  God  descend 
upon  a  redeemed  humanity.  I  pray  the  Almighty 
that  this  day  may  come  soon." 

And  so  saying  Hassan  Effendi  rose  from  his 
seat  next  to  the  window.  It  was  the  signal  that 
our  audience  was  at  an  end,  and  we  all  got  up.  We 
took  leave  from  the  master  who  accompanied  us  to 
the  door  where  he  shook  hands  with  every  one 
of  us. 

And  as  the  door  was  closing  we  could  hear  his 
soft  voice  like  a  blessing:     "Peace  be  with  you"! 


XIV 
A  VOICE  FROM  ANATOLIA 

^TO  matter  how  short  and  succinct  it  is,  an 
account  of  the  Turks  as  they  really  are  and 
of  the  Turkey  of  to-day  would  not  be  complete 
without  a  description  of  the  Turks  who  are  now 
so  successfully  engaged  in  fighting  the  supreme 
battle  of  their  country  on  the  plains  of  Anatolia. 
The  foregoing  pages  have  been  devoted  almost  en- 
tirely to  the  Turks  of  Constantinople,  to  their 
mode  of  living,  their  ideals  and  ideas.  But  after 
all  Constantinople  is  only  one  city  of  Turkey  and 
Anatolia  is  the  real  backbone  of  the  country. 

From  the  shores  of  the  Black  Sea  down  to 
Broussa  and  Smyrna,  Anatolia  is  an  armed  camp, 
bristling  with  activity.  That  much  every  one 
knows.  How  well  organized  these  activities  are 
is  evidenced  by  the  success  the  Turks  have  se- 
cured against  such  great  odds.  But  behind  the 
guns  and  bayonets,  behind  the  steel  wall  which 
has  stemmed  the  invasion  of  foreigners,  there 
is  a  whole  country  whose  borders  extend  as 
far  as  Caucasia  and  whose  influence  extends  be- 
yond, to  the  arid  steppes  of  Turkestan  and  the 
snow-covered  mountains  of  Afghanistan.     Within 

245 


246  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

this  country  there  are  millions  of  Turks  who,  lie- 
sides  their  military  activities,  the  immediate  needs 
of  their  armies  and  the  political  requirements 
of  their  country  are  living  a  life  throbbing  with 
enthusiasm  and  hopes.  This  is  the  rejuvenated 
Turkey,  not  intent  in  imitating,  like  a  monkey, 
the  customs  of  the  West  or  in  adopting  wholesale 
the  now  antiquated  political  structure  of  Europe. 
It  is  a  Turkey  which  realizes  fully  the  harm  that 
too  indiscriminating  a  copying  of  western  customs 
has  brought  and  is  liable  to  bring  to  nations  whose 
temperament  and  moral  standards  are  different, 
a  Turkey  which  is  well  aware  that  its  past  great- 
ness in  history  was  due  exclusively  to  its  own 
unadulterated  racial  qualities,  a  Turkey  which  is 
convinced  that  by  reviving  its  own  customs  and 
modernizing  them  to  fit  the  requirements  of  the 
time  it  will  better  and  more  quickly  revive  its 
racial  qualities  and  the  grandeur  of  the  East  than 
by  imitating  aliens;  a  Turkey  convinced  that  it 
should  adapt  and  not  adopt  those  of  the  western 
customs  which  make  for  modern  progress  and 
culture. 

The  heart  and  brains  of  this  Turkey  have  been 
set  up  in  a  small  village  on  top  of  the  fertile  plains 
which  dominate  the  rugged  mountains  of  Anatolia. 

Thrice  presumptuous  enemies  have  tried  with 
machine  guns,  tanks  and  aeroplanes,  with  all  the 
destructive  paraphernalia  of  modern  armies,  to 
seize  and  destroy  this  village  in   the  hope   that 


A  VOICE  FROM  ANATOLIA  247 

under  its  ruins  would  be  smothered  the  new 
Turkey.  Thrice  the  Turks  of  Anatolia  have  an- 
swered: 'Thou  shalt  not  pass,"  and  have  pre- 
served intact  the  sanctity  of  their  mountains,  their 
plains  and  their  country  from  the  desecration  of 
its  western  foes.  And  despite  all,  thousands  of 
Turks,  leaders  of  the  Anatolian  movement,  con- 
tinue to  live,  hope  and  work  in  Angora,  the 
village  on  top  of  the  plains  dominating  the  rugged 
mountains,  the  free  capital  of  a  free  and  inde- 
pendent new  Turkey  which  ever  since  its  inception 
has  been  progressing  in  leaps  and  bounds  toward 
the  leadership  of  the  East. 

An  account  of  modern  Turkey  and  of  the  mod- 
ern Turks  would  not  be  complete  without  an 
account  of  these  Turks,  their  mode  of  living,  their 
ideals  and  ideas.  And  to  obtain  first-hand  infor- 
mation on  them  I  have  written  to  a  childhood 
friend  of  mine,  Djemil  Haidar  Bey,  who  is  now 
visiting  Angora.  I  have  received  a  letter  from 
him  and  for  fear  of  omitting  the  smallest  detail 
or  detracting  from  its  vivid  pictures  vibrating  with 
youthful  vitality,  I  am  giving  here  its  textual 
translation.  I  have  only  left  out  those  parts 
which  had  to  do  with  matters  of  personal  interest. 

"I  will  now  endeavour  to  give  you  the  descrip- 
tion you  have  asked  of  the  Angora  of  to-day  and 
of  the  people  who  are  living  here.  I  believe  you 
visited  Angora  before  the  war.  Anyhow  you 
know  that   it  was  nothing  but  a  village   which 


248  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

could  boast  of  no  more  than  about  fifteen  thou- 
sand inhabitants  living  in  wooden  shacks  and  mud 
huts,  good  Anatolian  peasants  and  their  families, 
satisfied  with  leading  a  good,  peaceful  life,  work- 
ing in  their  fields  during  the  day  and  meeting  in 
prayer  at  night. 

"The  general  war  came  and  as  in  every  other 
village  of  Anatolia  it  drained  Angora  of  all  its 
male  inhabitants  who  could  bear  arms.  And  with 
the  signing  of  the  armistice  those  of  the  surviving 
inhabitants  who  were  lucky  enough  to  come  back 
found  nearly  half  of  their  village  destroyed  by  fire. 
"It  was  written,"  they  said  with  a  sigh,  and  settled 
down  to  their  usual  life.  Little  did  they  know 
that  soon  the  most  momentous  events  in  the  Near 
East  were  to  make  of  their  unknown  little  village 
the  powerful  center  of  a  whole  nation  in  open 
rebellion  against  the  imperialistic  desires  of  pow- 
erful enemies. 

"But  somewhere  in  the  limitless  space  of  the 
infinite  the  powers  that  rule  the  destinies  of  the 
world  were  silently  acting.  Events  were  taking 
shape.  Turkish  patriots,  practically  all  members 
of  the  House  of  Representatives  duly  elected  by 
the  people,  winced  on  reading  the  terms  of  the 
treaty  of  peace  which  the  enemies  of  Turkey 
wanted  to  impose  on  their  country.  To  accept  them 
would  have  been  to  sign  the  death  warrant  of  the 
country.  But  to  refuse  them  and  remain  in  Con- 
stantinople was  not  to  be  thought   of.     Several 


A  VOICE  FROM  ANATOLIA  249 

of  their  leaders  who  had  openly  given  vent  to 
their  feelings  in  Constantinople  had  been  arrested 
and  exiled  to  a  little  island  in  the  Mediterranean 
where  they  could  leisurely  think  over  the  emptiness 
of  war  formulas  such  as  the  one  which  enunci- 
ated as  inalienable  the  rights  of  small  nationalities. 
To  organize  an  open  rebellion  in  Constantinople 
would  have  been  impossible;  the  guns  of  the  most 
powerful  fleets  of  the  world  were  turned  on  the 
city. 

"But  the  purpose  of  the  Turkish  patriots  rep- 
resenting the  will  of  the  people  was  already  fixed. 
One  by  one  and  unostentatiously  they  went  as  far 
away  as  possible  from  Constantinople,  to  Erzer- 
oum  on  the  borders  of  Caucasia,  and  assembling 
here  a  National  Assembly,  flung  to  the  face  of  the 
surprised  world  the  slogan  of  the  great  American 
patriots  of  1776:  "Give  us  Liberty,  or  give  us 
Death"! 

"However,  events  proved  that  the  selection  they 
had  made  for  their  capital  was  not  a  wise  one. 
The  Russian  Colossus  now  ruled  by  the  Bol- 
sheviki  was  shivering  under  a  new  fever  of  im- 
perialism as  acute  as  the  endemic  one  it  had  under 
the  Tzars.  It  stretched  its  blood-stained  claws 
to  the  South,  and  gripping  the  independent  Turk- 
ish republic  of  Caucasia,  implanted  its  Soviets 
too  dangerously  near  Erzeroum.  The  Turks  of 
Anatolia,  the  Nationalist  Turks  as  they  now  called 
themselves,  saw  the  danger  and  shivered  in  dis- 


250  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

may.  Their  organization  was  as  yet  nil,  the  Turk- 
ish armies  had  been  disbanded,  the  Turkish  fleet 
had  been  dismantled,  and  their  capital — the  brains 
of  New  Turkey  whose  double  national  purpose  was 
naturally  to  protect  Europe  from  a  Southeastern 
Bolshevik  invasion  and  the  Near  East  from  west- 
ern domination — was  without  guns,  without  can- 
nons and  without  bayonets,  at  the  mercy  of  Russia. 
The  dismay  in  the  Turkish  camp  was,  however, 
of  short  duration.  From  Constantinople  had  ar- 
rived a  great  man,  a  great  leader,  a  great  general 
whose  genius  had  already  once  saved  Turkey  at 
the  Dardanelles.  Mustapha  Kemal  Pasha  ap- 
peared in  Erzeroum  and  the  National  Assembly 
unanimously  elected  him  at  once  to  its  presidency. 
He  gave  immediate  orders  and  all  the  members 
of  the  National  Assembly,  numbering  nearly  seven 
hundred,  all  the  civilian  and  military  chiefs  accom- 
panied by  their  staffs,  all  the  employees  of  the 
temporary  Government  packed  up  their  baggage 
and  trudged  their  weary  way  to  the  great  Ana- 
tolian plateau  accessible  only  through  easily  de- 
fensible mountain  passes  where  the  Sakaria  river 
winds  its  way. 

"Here,  at  the  head  of  one  of  the  very  few  rail- 
road lines  in  Asia  Minor,  practically  at  the  same 
distance  from  the  Black  Sea  shores,  the  Russian 
Soviet's  borders,  Mesopotamia  occupied  by  the 
British  and  Cilicia  then  occupied  by  the  French — 
all  places  from  which  an  attack  could  have  been 


A  VOICE  FROM  ANATOLIA  251 

expected  on  the  rear  of  the  Nationalist  armies 
fighting  against  the  Greeks  on  the  Smyrna  and  the 
Broussa  front — was  a  small,  dilapidated,  half- 
burned  village,  Angora.  But  it  was  the  natural 
center  from  whence  the  Turkish  struggle  for  free- 
dom could  be  better  launched  and  could  be  de- 
fended with  the  greatest  probability  of  success. 

"The  Turkish  Nationalists  wanted  to  build  up 
their  country  for  efficiency,  not  for  luxury.  They 
had  not  sought  and  obtained  power  for  selfish 
reasons  of  comfort  and  enjoyment.  So  what  did 
they  care  if  their  capital  was  to  be  a  small,  uncom- 
fortable village!  They  had  left  their  homes,  their 
property  and  their  families  in  Constantinople  and 
had  come  to  Asia  Minor  to  put  into  execution 
lofty  ideals.  Their  purpose  was  to  set  up  in  Ana- 
tolia a  new  state,  a  new  democracy,  a  new  Gov- 
ernment of  the  people  and  for  the  people,  free  and 
independent — and  they  were  firmly  determined  to 
do  this  against  any  odds.  They  were  firmly  de- 
termined not  only  to  maintain  but  even  to  extend 
the  new  Turkey  to  its  proper  racial  and  economic 
limits  so  as  to  include,  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name, 
all  countries  and  cities  peopled  by  a  Turkish  ma- 
jority such  as  Constantinople  and  the  districts  of 
Thrace  and  Smyrna.  To  attain  this  object  they 
had  already  sacrificed  their  personal  comfort  and 
their  wealth.  They  were  now  ready  to  lead  a 
truly  Spartan  life  to  secure  the  success  of  their 
undertaking  and  they  did  not  object  to  selecting 


252  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

Angora  and  to  setting  up  here  the  headquarters 
of  their  fight  for  liberty. 

"So  one  fine  day  this  half-destroyed,  quiet  little 
village  of  Angora,  celebrated  only  for  its  cats 
and  goats,  was  awakened  by  the  influx  of  several 
thousands  of  active,  energetic  and  progressive  men 
who  had  decided  to  make  of  it  the  center  of  their 
activities,  a  place  destined  to  pass  into  history  as 
the  capital  of  a  nation  capable  of  "getting  the 
goat"  of  the  most  prominent  statesmen  of  the  age 
who  thought — or  hoped — that  Turkey  was  dead. 
Like  the  Phoenix  of  mythology,  the  Turks  were 
reborn  from  the  ashes  of  this  burnt  down  village. 

"The  village  was  swamped  by  the  newcomers 
who  lodged  as  best  they  could  in  shacks  and  mud 
huts.  As  long  as  they  could  settle  down  to  assist- 
ing the  painful  travail  of  the  birth  of  a  new  gov- 
ernment and  of  a  new  administration  conforming 
to  the  wishes  of  the  people,  and  of  an  army  capable 
of  defending  the  very  home  and  the  very  hearth 
of  the  nation,  the  newcomers  did  not  mind.  The 
most  prominent  and  influential  statesmen  and 
military  leaders  were  only  too  glad  to  "pile  up" 
under  any  kind  of  roof  which  could  offer  them 
shelter. 

"I  purposely  use  the  expression  "pile  up"  as  it 
accurately  describes  what  took  place.  As  I  have 
said  before  half  of  the  village  had  been  destroyed 
by  fire  so  that  there  was  barely  enough  place  to 
lodge  normally  about  two-thirds  of  its  own  inhabi- 


A  VOICE  FROM  ANATOLIA  253 

tants.  And  the  newcomers  numbered  from  six 
to  eight  thousand.  You  can  well  imagine  the 
difficulties  to  contend  with  in  order  to  lodge  all 
these  newcomers  when  you  realize  that  even  now 
— after  nearly  three  years  and  the  hasty  erection 
of  many  temporary  buildings — the  place  is  so 
overcrowded  that  it  is  common  to  find  four  or 
five  of  the  most  prominent  citizens  sharing  the 
same  room. 

"You  can  easily  realize  that  under  these  con- 
ditions there  is  very  little  social  life.  Besides,  the 
work  undertaken  is  too  strenuous,  the  people  here 
are  too  much  occupied  with  their  duties — and 
really  in  earnest  about  accomplishing  them  as  well 
as  they  can — to  indulge  in  social  life.  Further- 
more there  are  very  few  representatives  of  the 
fair  sex  in  Angora,  and  social  life  without  ladies 
is  not  possible.  Most  of  the  women  here  are  vil- 
lagers or  else  nurses  of  the  Red  Crescent,  Turkish 
relief  workers  and  ladies  otherwise  occupied  in 
assisting  their  husbands,  fathers  or  brothers  in 
the  patriotic  task  they  have  undertaken.  There 
are  no  women  of  leisure,  no  hostess  who  has 
enough  time  to  entertain.  It  can  be  truthfully 
said  that  every  Turkish  woman  now  in  Angora  is 
a  little  Joan  of  Arc.  And  the  quarters  being 
so  inadequate  most  of  the  women  live  together 
and  sleep  together  just  as  their  men  are  obliged 
to  live  and  sleep  together.  Everyone  here  works 
grimly   with    a    definite    purpose    and    faces    the 


254  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

realities   confronting  the  cyclopean   work   of   re- 
creating a  Nation. 

"The  lack  of  social  intercourse  does  not  how- 
ever detract  from  the  interest  of  the  place.  The 
sight  of  the  streets  alone  is  most  interesting  and 
edifying.  Everyone  is  so  busy  and  there  are  so 
many  people  here  that  it  is  hardly  possible  to  walk 
leisurely  in  the  streets  during  the  rush  hours  of  the 
day.  One  is  taken  up  and  carried  by  the  crowd. 
And  the  crowd  is  the  most  diversified  and  pictur- 
esque that  one  can  see  in  any  place,  not  even  barring 
the  proverbial  bridge  in  Constantinople.  You  see, 
volunteers  of  all  kinds  have  rushed  here  not  only 
from  Anatolia,  but  from  every  Turkish  country, 
every  Turkish  village  of  the  world  and  even  from 
the  most  diversified  Muslim  countries  of  Asia  and 
Africa.  It  is  a  real  Babel,  but  of  costumes  not  of 
languages:  every  one  speaks  Turkish.  Turkish 
Anatolian  peasants,  with  baggy  trousers,  wide  blue 
belts  and  thin  turbans  over  their  fez,  fraternize  with 
Tartars  and  Kirghiz  of  Turkestan.  Azerbeidjanian 
and  Caucasian  Turks,  with  tight-fitting  black  coats 
and  enormous  black  astrakan  kolpaks  on  their 
heads  —  runaways  from  Bolshevik  Russia  —  are 
discussing  the  principles  of  real  democracy  as 
applied  to  Nationalist  Turkey  and  comparing 
them  with  the  so-called  democracy  of  Soviet 
lands.  Muslim  Chinamen  and  Hindoos  are  talk- 
ing over  the  future  of  Turkey  and  Islam.  All 
the  nations  of  Asia  intermingle  here  and  most 


A  VOICE  FROM  ANATOLIA  255 

of  them  have  official  missions  in  Angora:  Em- 
bassies from  Afghanistan,  Beluchistan,  Bokhara, 
Khiva  and  from  the  different  new  Republics  of 
Turkestan,  duly  accredited  representatives  from 
Persia  and  Azerbeidjan.  The  quota  from  Africa  is 
also  very  large  and  while  there  are  no  diplomatic 
missions  from  African  countries — for  the  simple 
reason  that  all  African  countries  are  colonies — 
many  are  the  Fellahs  from  Egypt,  the  Algerians 
and  Moroccans  and  even  the  Muslim  negroes  of 
North  Africa  who  can  be  seen  in  the  streets. 

"And  all  this  crowd  is  active  and  busy.  Every- 
body talks  and  gesticulates  and  rushes  through  the 
streets  to  accomplish  some  purpose. 

"The  modern  European  touch  is  brought  by 
the  Turks  from  the  big  centers,  Nationalist  leaders 
who  have  come  here  from  Constantinople  and 
other  large  cities,  clad  in  sack  suits  or  in  uni- 
forms cut  on  western  patterns,  but  all  wearing 
the  black  fur  kolpak  which  has  replaced  through- 
out the  country  the  red  felt  fez  as  national  head- 
gear. 

"In  the  village  proper  there  is  not  a  house  which 
does  not  shelter  more  people  than  it  has  rooms. 
So  quite  a  few  of  the  people  who  now  live  in 
Angora  have  been  quartered  in  small  farmhouses 
around  the  country  and  are  obliged  to  commute 
every  day  to  and  from  their  business.  There  are 
of  course  no  suburban  trains  or  street  cars  and 
the  "commuters"  are  obliged  to  use  carriages  as 


256  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

all  the  automobiles — mostly  Fords — are  being  used 
for  military  purposes  or  for  transporting  travellers 
and  goods  from  villages  to  villages.  The  carriage 
is  therefore  the  only  means  of  conveyance  in 
Angora.  "Carriage"  is,  of  course,  a  rather  com- 
plimentary term:  true  that  they  have  four  wheels 
and  are  drawn  by  horses,  but  they  generally  have 
no  springs,  and  two  boards  running  parallel  to 
each  other  and  facing  the  horse  are  used  as  seats. 
From  their  wooden  roofs  hang  coloured  curtains 
and  the  occupants  are  vigourously  shaken  over 
the  uneven  pavement  of  the  streets. 

"There  are  only  a  very  few  shops,  but  no  one 
has  time  or  leisure  to  shop.  The  strict  necessities 
of  life  can  be  obtained  at  the  open  counters  of  the 
bazaars  or  markets  and  if  they  are  not  to  be 
found  there  one  has  either  to  do  without  or  to 
import  them  from  Constantinople  or  from  some 
other  city.  Amusement  places  are  absolutely  non- 
existent: no  theaters,  not  even  movies.  And  of 
course  no  saloons  or  bars  since  Prohibition  is 
vigourously  enforced  in  Anatolia.  There  are  one 
or  two  coffee-houses  where  a  few  old  native 
peasants  sit  peacefully  and,  over  a  cup  of  coffee 
or  a  smoke  of  the  'narghile/  talk  of  the  good  old 
days.  The  hostelry  of  the  place  has  its  lounge 
turned  into  a  dormitory.  Travellers  are  at  times 
obliged  to  sleep  even  on  the  steps  of  the  stairs,  so 
no  space  can  be  allotted  for  recreation.  Besides  it 
would  be  useless ;  no  one  here  has  time  for  amuse- 


A  VOICE  FROM  ANATOLIA  257 

inent  or  recreation  and  if  you  ask  any  one  how 
he  passes  his  time  he  will  be  able  to  answer  you 
with  a  single  word :  'Work.'  Every  one  is  at  work 
to  save  the  life  of  the  country,  every  one  is 
endeavouring  to  improve  the  community,  every 
one  is  engaged  in  assisting  in  some  way  or  other 
the  Government  and  the  nation. 

'The  offices  of  the  Government  are  quartered  in 
the  largest  buildings.  An  old  barrack  shelters 
most  of  them.  Its  enormous  rooms  have  been 
partitioned  into  offices  with  a  long  corridor  run- 
ning between  them.  Every  office  has  a  door  on  this 
corridor.  On  some  of  these  doors  there  are  in- 
scriptions indicating  the  names  of  the  departments 
which  abide  therein.  The  Department  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  the  Department  of  Commerce,  the  Trea- 
sury Department,  the  Department  of  Agriculture 
and  all  other  civilian  departments  are  located  in 
this  building. 

"Another  enormous  building,  a  former  school, 
shelters  all  the  departments  pertaining  to  every 
activity  necessary  to  the  national  defense.  Its 
offices  are  arranged  on  the  same  style  as  those  for 
civilian  activities.  Thus  the  Nationalist  Govern- 
ment has,  fittingly,  differentiated  its  war  activities 
from  its  administrative  activities.  The  depart- 
ments which  are  engaged  in  constructive  work, 
whose  activities  will  secure  the  nation's  develop- 
ment and  progress  are  completely  separated  from 
those  whose  duty  is  to  secure  the  national  defense. 


258  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

"The  two  most  active  civilian  departments,  or 
rather  the  two  departments  to  which  the  National 
Government  attaches  the  greatest  importance 
among  those  engaged  in  constructive  work  are 
the  Department  of  Public  Education  and  the 
Department  of  Hygiene.  And  if — as  all  of  us  here 
are  absolutely  convinced — the  programs  of  these 
two  departments  are  strictly  adhered  to,  Anatolia 
will  be  in  a  very  few  years  the  best  educated  and 
the  most  hygienic  country  in  the  Old  World. 

"The  Government  conducts  its  business  in  the 
most  democratic  way  possible.  The  different  heads 
of  departments  are  members  of  the  National 
Assembly  and  are,  therefore,  all  chosen  directly 
by  the  people.  They  are  delegated  to  manage  the 
departments  by  the  vote  of  all  the  members  of 
the  Assembly.  Each  head  of  department  is  in- 
dividually responsible  to  the  Assembly  for  the  good 
conduct  and  administration  of  his  department. 
He  is  removable  by  the  vote  of  the  Assembly  which 
immediately  elects  his  successor.  The  heads  of 
the  departments  have  their  private  offices  whose 
doors  are  always  open  to  all.  As  the  Government 
is  of  the  people  and  for  the  people  any  citizen 
who  desires  to  see  one  of  his  deputies'  concerning  a 
matter  connected  with  his  department  has  the 
right  to  come  in  and  is  received  at  once  without 
any  formalities.  But  he  has  to  attend  immediately 
to  his  business  and  then  he  has  to  leave.  Effi- 
ciency is  the  slogan  of  the  National  Government 


A  VOICE  FROM  ANATOLIA  259 

and  for  this  purpose  all  red  tape  has  been  com- 
pletely eliminated.  No  loitering,  no  'manana' 
policy  is  indulged  in.  Things  that  have  to  be  done, 
have  got  to  be  done  immediately  and  no  one  has 
the  right  to  interfere  for  the  pleasure  of  following 
the  dictates  of  a  set  routine.  Truly  this  is  the 
most  efficient  form  of  government  that  I  have  ever 
seen.  ' 

"The  National  Assembly  is  located  in  the  only 
really  attractive  and  modern  building  of  Angora. 
It  has  been  especially  erected  to  house  the  Parlia- 
ment and  has  a  large  meeting-room,  a  reading- 
room  and  private  offices  for  the  representatives 
of  the  people.  While  it  is  not  luxurious,  it  is 
as  comfortable  and  as  serviceable  as  need  be.  It 
is  situated  on  a  large  square  not  far  from  the 
station. 

"And  now  that  you  have  an  accurate  idea  of 
the  general  aspect  of  the  capital,  now  that  you 
know  that  this  is  no  place  for  amusements  or 
social  activities,  you  will  want  to  know  something 
more  about  the  people,  their  ideals  and  their  aims. 

"I  think  that,  for  all  these  purposes,  I  might 
as  well  give  you  a  description  of  the  two  principal 
figures  who  to-day  stand  out  distinctly  as  the  two 
leaders  of  the  Turkish  Nationalist  Government; 
the  two  national  heroes  who  personify  better  than 
any  one  else  the  spirit  which  animates  so  power- 
fully Anatolia  and  the  whole  Turkish  race.  One 
is  a  man  and  the  other  a  woman.     You  surely 


26o  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

have  already  guessed:  I  am  referring  to  Musta- 
pha  Kemal  Pasha,  the  undisputed  leader  of  Turk- 
ish manhood,  and  to  Halide  Hanoum,  the  equally 
peerless  leader  of  modern  Turkish  women. 

"As  you  know,  Mustapha  Kemal  Pasha  is  not 
only  the  promoter,  but  the  soul  and  the  brain  of 
the  new  Turkey.  That  he  represents  exactly  all 
Turkish  aspirations  and  embodies  the  ideals  of 
modern  Turkey  is  best  proved  by  the  fact  that 
upon  his  arrival  in  Anatolia  he  was  elected  by  the 
wish  of  the  people  to  the  Presidency  of  the  Na- 
tional Assembly,  the  highest  executive  function, 
and  to  the  Field  Marshalship  of  the  National 
Army,  the  highest  military  function.  And  he  has 
been  ever  since  maintained  in  both  these  most 
responsible  positions  by  the  general  consensus  of 
the  whole  nation. 

"And  this  has  been  done  almost  against  the  per- 
sonal wishes  of  Mustapha  Kemal  Pasha.  He  is 
neither  ambitious  nor  desirous  of  holding  power. 
In  fact  he  is  what  might  be  called  a  self-appointed 
'power  prohibitionist.'  And  if  he  remains  in  power 
it  is  exclusively  because  the  people  want  him  to 
and,  being  a  convinced  democrat,  he  bows  his 
head  to  the  wish  of  the  people.  Of  course,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  movement,  when  the  national 
aspirations  of  the  Turks  sought  some  one  to  form- 
ulate them  and  to  organize  the  country,  Mustapha 
Kemal  Pasha  took  the  lead  without  shunning  its 
responsibilities  and  without  a  second's  hesitation 


A  VOICE  FROM  ANATOLIA  261 

on  account  of  the  price  that  he  personally  would 
have  to  pay  should  he  fail  in  his  undertaking.  He 
set  to  work  with  the  indomitable  patriotic  courage 
which  marks  national  heroes. 

"His  energy,  his  straightforwardness,  his 
frankness  and  the  rapidity  with  which  he  made 
decisions  coupled  to  the  firmness  with  which 
he  saw  that  decisions,  once  made,  were  immediately 
executed  became  apparent  even  during  the  first 
weeks  of  his  administration  and  gradually  won 
him  the  full  confidence  and  devotion  of  his  people. 
This  would  have  been  his  opportunity  had  he 
desired  to  establish  a  dictatorship,  had  he  wanted 
to  place  his  personal  interests  above  the  interests 
of  his  country,  had  his  democratic  utterances  been 
of  the  lips  and  not  of  the  heart.  During  the  first 
months  of  the  national  movement  Turkey  was 
taking  the  chance  of  seeing  its  individual  freedom 
trampled  once  more  under  the  booted  feet  of  an 
Abdul-Hamid  or  an  Enver  ...  if  the  leader 
who  was  offering  himself  had  been  any  one  else 
than  Mustapha  Kemal.  But  the  Pasha  had  given 
a  few  years  before  the  proof  of  his  matchless 
patriotism  and  abnegation  by  stepping  back  into 
an  inconspicuous  command  after  having  saved 
his  country  by  a  series  of  victories  at  the  Darda- 
nelles, and  therefore  the  country  felt  pretty  safe 
in  confiding  its  destinies  to  the  hands  of  Musta- 
pha Kemal  Pasha. 

"The  events  have  proved  that  this  confidence 


262  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

could  not  have  been  better  placed.  Under  the  very 
guns  of  Turkey's  enemies  he  organized  the  na- 
tional resistance  and  changed  the  prevailing  state 
of  nervousness  and  despondency  into  an  intelligent 
state  of  national  efficiency  and  enthusiasm.  Start- 
ing with  a  handful  of  followers  he  opened  new 
horizons  to  the  Turkish  people,  discouraged  and 
broken-hearted  by  their  previous  utter  collapse. 
While  the  nation  lay  prostrated  at  the  mercy  of 
its  enemies,  he  stepped  forth  and  showed  lo  the 
Turks  the  silver  lining  behind  the  threatening 
clouds  and  demonstrated  once  more  to  the  world 
that  a  nation  which  is  led  properly  and  has  a  will 
to  live  is  unconquerable. 

"Mustapha  Kemal  Pasha  had  a  double  duty 
to  perform.  Turkey  disarmed  and  bound  hand 
and  foot,  her  capital  occupied  by  the  enemy,  her 
Government  departments  and  administration  com- 
pletely disorganized,  had  to  regain  her  indepen- 
dence and  needed  therefore  not  only  a  capable 
military  chief  but  also  a  capable  organizer  and 
statesman.  Mustapha  Kemal  Pasha  rose  to  the 
occasion  and  while  he  was  organizing  on  one  hand 
the  military  resources  of  his  country,  while  he 
was  arming  and  training  thousands  of  recruits 
and  building  up  factories  to  furnish  them  with 
guns  and  ammunition  and  to  clothe  them  as  best 
he  could,  he  was  on  the  other  hand  helping  the 
National  Assembly  to  formulate  a  new  constitu- 
tion, to  make  a  new  form  of  government — a  sort 


A  VOICE  FROM  ANATOLIA  263 

of  republic  fitted  to  the  peculiar  requirements  of 
Turkey — based  on  the  broadest  and  most  practical 
principles  of  democracy. 

"And  as  soon  as  his  military  victories  secured 
the  existence  of  his  country  and  permitted  him 
to  work  on  more  permanent  matters  he  turned 
completely  to  the  National  Assembly — resigning 
his  commission  as  Commander-in-Chief — and  de- 
voted his  attention  to  the  consolidation  of  the  new 
form  of  Government  and  to  the  perfection  of  its 
administration. 

"But  as  the  enemy,  once  more  encouraged  and 
equipped  by  powerful  western  powers,  again  took 
the  offensive  and  advanced  into  Anatolia,  burning 
villages,  killing  civilians  and  massacring  old  men, 
women  and  children,  the  National  Assembly 
turned  again  to  Mustapha  Kemal  Pasha  and 
electing  him  once  more  Commander-in-Chief,  asked 
him  for  new  victories — and  Turkey  did  not  have 
to  wait  long  to  have  her  wishes  satisfied  by  the 
military  genius  of  the  Pasha. 

"Ever  since  the  definite  organization  of  the 
National  Assembly,  Mustapha  Kemal  Pasha  has 
spent  all  his  energies  in  investing  it  with  the  pow- 
ers he  held  in  his  own  hands.  He  has  methodically 
and  without  faltering  worked  to  transfer  his  own 
unlimited  powers  as  Chief  Executive  and  Com- 
mander to  the  duly  elected  representatives  of  the 
people.  This  process  of  self -restriction  has  gone 
so  far  that  to-day  the  Turkish  National  Assembly 


264  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

is  endowed  with  far  greater  powers  and  preroga- 
tives than  any  House  of  Representatives  or  Parlia- 
ment of  any  country.  It  has  all  the  sovereign  pre- 
rogatives including  those  of  declaring  war  and 
concluding  peace.  It  elects  its  own  members  to  the 
different  administrative  functions  of  the  Cabinet 
and  removes  them  whenever  it  sees  fit.  And  all 
this  thanks  to  the  restriction  of  his  own  powers 
by  Mustapha  Kemal  Pasha. 

"In  doing  this  the  Turkish  hero  had  a  double 
purpose:  he  knows  that  the  ideas  and  ideals  he 
is  fighting  for  are  not  personal  to  him  but  are 
shared  by  the  whole  nation  and  he  wants  to  prove 
this  to  the  world — on  the  other  hand,  a  true  demo- 
crat at  heart,  he  wants  the  entire  nation,  through 
its  duly  elected  representatives,  to  be  enabled  to 
handle  its  own  destinies  as  it  sees  fit.  Sure  of 
final  military  success,  he  desired  to  increase  within 
the  nation  the  number  of  statesmen  capable  of 
perpetuating  indefinitely  the  life  of  a  rejuvenated 
Turkey.  And  through  painstaking  efforts,  through 
sharing  gradually  his  own  responsibilities  with 
members  of  the  National  Assembly  he  has  created 
a  nucleus  of  statesmen  enjoying  the  national  con- 
fidence and  capable  of  commanding  international 
esteem,  who  will  be  able  to  guide  their  country 
along  the  road  of  progress. 

"All  the  actions  of  Mustapha  Kemal  Pasha 
have  been  dictated  by  his  peerless  patriotism,  his 


A  VOICE  FROM  ANATOLIA  265 

genuine  spirit  of  abnegation  and  his  absolute  un- 
selfishness. 

"This  modern  Turkish  Washington  lives  with 
his  civilian  and  military  household  in  a  little  house 
near  the  station  and  opposite  the  building  of  the 
National  Assembly.  This  house,  which  is  sur- 
rounded by  a  garden  with  big  trees  and  flowers, 
was  originally  the  house  of  the  station  master. 
It  has  eight  or  ten  rooms,  small  and  unpretentious, 
soberly  furnished  throughout.  The  only  luxury  in 
the  house  is  a  writing-desk  almost  as  large  as  the 
room  it  occupies.  At  this  table  Mustapha  Kemal 
Pasha  spends  all  his  time  when  he  is  not  at  the 
front  or  on  military  and  administrative  tours  of 
inspection,  or  working  at  the  National  Assembly, 
It  is  in  this  den  that  the  General  works  from 
early  in  the  morning  until  late  at  night,  without 
any  distraction,  continuously  and  painstakingly 
striving  to  bring  about  his  dream — not  a  dream  of 
personal  ambition  or  of  national  conquests,  but 
a  dream  of  freedom  and  of  independence  for  a 
people— his  people — whose  one  aim  is  to  remain 
master  of  its  own  home. 

"The  leader  of  Turkish  women,  Halide  Edib 
Hanoum,  is  in  her  own  field  as  great  a  figure  as 
Mustapha  Kemal  Pasha.  Her  talents  are  most 
diversified  and  she  has,  like  Mustapha  Kemal 
Pasha,  a  very  strong  will  for  putting  through  any- 
thing she  undertakes.  Although"  she  is  still 
young  she  has  been  for  many  years  at  the  head 


266  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

of  the  movement  for  the  emancipation  of  Turk- 
ish women.  You  probably  remember,  as  I  do, 
that  she  first  attracted  public  attention  when  her 
verses  were  published.  It  created  quite  a  stir  in 
Turkey  as  she  was  the  first  Turkish  poetess,  at 
least  the  first  who  came  out  under  her  own  name 
and  bowed  to  the  public  through  her  books.  I 
still  remember  the  first  time  I  saw  her,  in 
the  good  old  pre-war  days  in  the  summer  of  191 3. 
I  had  gone  with  some  friends  to  the  Sweet  Waters 
of  Asia  on  the  Bosphorus  which  were  at  that  time 
the  fashionable  'rendezvous'  on  Friday  afternoons. 
The  little  stream  bordered  with  old  trees  and  green 
meadows  was  crowded  with  rowboats  and  caiks 
leisurely  gliding  on  its  transparent  waters.  Sud- 
denly among  the  boats  I  saw  a  slender  skiff  with 
two  rowers  wearing  embroidered  Oriental  liveries. 
At  the  stern  a  young  girl  was  sitting,  her  veil 
a  little  more  transparent  than  it  was  usually  worn 
at  the  time  and  her  dark  brown  locks  showing 
a  little  more  than  those  of  her  sisters.  She  held 
a  white  embroidered  parasol  daintily  in  her  hand 
to  shelter  her  from  the  strong  rays  of  the  summer 
sun.  Her  pensive  black  eyes  were  beautiful.  Her 
boat  crossed  ours  and  the  vision  had  disappeared 
in  a  few  seconds.  I  held  my  breath  and  asked  my 
companions  who  she  was,  and  when  I  heard  that  it 
was  'Halide  Hanoum,  the  poetess'  I  was  more  im- 
pressed than  ever,  tittle  did  I  guess  that  the  next 
time  I  would  see  Her  it  would  be  here  in  Angora. 


A  VOICE  FROM  ANATOLIA  267 

"Of  course  you  know  her  career  during  tliese 
pre-war  days  and  possibly  also  during  the  war. 
She  managed  always  to  be  a  little  ahead  of  her 
sisters,  the  other  Turkish  women  who  were  clam- 
ouring for  the  emancipation  of  their  sex.  She 
was  the  first  one  who  gradually  and  almost  im- 
perceptibly lifted  the  veil  of  her  contemporaries, 
she  was  the  first  Turkish  woman  who  engaged  in 
newspaper  polemics  and  addressed  public  meetings. 
Even  in  those  days  she  was  a  leader  but  she  had 
not  yet  come  into  her  own.  It  took  the  national 
epopee  of  Anatolia  to  bring  out  in  Her  all  the 
mature  attributes  of  a  really  great  woman,  a 
leader  among  leaders,  a  practical  and  rational 
woman  of  action  even  though  extremely  advanced. 

"She  was,  I  think,  the  first  woman  to  come  to 
Angora.  Communication  with  Constantinople  be- 
ing then  interrupted  she  had  to  cross  in  carriage, 
on  foot  or  on  horseback  the  mountains  of  Ana- 
tolia. The  hardships  she  went  through  would 
make  the  subject  of  a  long  novel.  During  nearly 
four  weeks — the  time  it  took  her  to  reach  Angora 
— not  once  did  she  find  a  decent  bed  to  rest  in, 
and  even  her  husband,  Adnan  Bey,  was  exhausted 
when  they  arrived  here.  But  it  did  not  take  her 
long  to  recover  and  within  a  short  time  she  was 
engaged  body  and  soul  in  organizing  educational 
campaigns  throughout  Anatolia  and  in  teaching 
the  peasant  women  all  the  different  ways  in  which 
they  could  be  useful  to  their  country. 


268  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

"At  the  first  vacancy  in  the  National  Assembly 
she  became  a  candidate  and  went  personally  before 
her  constituency.  She  was,  of  course,  elected 
by  an  overwhelming  majority  and  of  course  she 
distinguished  herself  in  her  parliamentary  work. 
In  fact  she  criticised  so  well  the  educational  sys- 
tem then  in  vogue  and  offered  such  excellent  con- 
structive suggestions  that  her  colleagues  of  the 
National  Assembly  elected  her  Secretary  of  Public 
Education  in  the  Cabinet. 

"She  was  successfully  holding  this  position  when 
the  enemy  started  his  spring  drive  and  the  Com- 
mander-in-Chief issued  a  proclamation  calling  un- 
der the  colours  all  persons  who  could  hold  a  gun. 
She  immediately  took  advantage  of  this  to  establish 
once  more  the  equal  rights  of  women:  on  the  plea 
that,  being  a  huntress  she  not  *only  could  hold  a 
gun  but  also  knew  how  to  use  it,  she  enrolled  in 
the  army  and  won  the  grade  of  non-commissioned 
officer  for  bravery  on  the  field,  at  the  battle  of 
Sakaria.  After  the  successful  repulse  of  the  enemy 
and  when  the  armies  were  disbanded  for  the 
winter  she  returned  to  Angora  where  she  is  now 
completing  and  perfecting  the  organization  of 
Turkish  women  for  educational,  racial  and  hy- 
gienic betterment. 

"Halide  Edib  Hanoum  lives  in  a  little  cottage,  a 
farm,  situated  at  about  one  hour's  ride  from  the 
village  and  which  is  reached  through  a  long,  dusty 
road.     Nestled  within  a  bouquet  of  trees  and  at  a 


A  VOICE  FROM  ANATOLIA  269 

short  distance  from  a  clear  little  stream  which 
sings  its  way  through  rocks  and  flowers,  stands 
the  rustic  cottage  of  Halide  Hanoum.  It  has  a 
nice  little  orchard  and,  further  back  behind  the 
trees  is  a  pasture  where  she  keeps  a  few  cows. 
It  is  an  ideal  place  for  this  loving  and  beloved 
woman  leader,  for  here  she  can  withdraw — when 
she  finds  time  from  her  various  occupations — and 
ride  or  hunt  or  else  write,  according  to  her  whim 
of  the  moment. 

"The  house  is  furnished  scrupulously  in  Turkish 
style — the  Turkish  style  of  villages:  no  rich  em- 
broideries and  beautiful  hangings,  but  simple 
divans  lined  up  against  the  whitewashed  walls, 
one  or  two  carpets,  and  a  copper  'brazero'  in  the' 
living-room.  And  of  course  books,  a  large  collec- 
tion of  books  in  every  language — English,  French 
and  German  which  she  speaks  remarkably  well — 
and  a  few  hunting  guns. 

"The  last  time  I  saw  her  she  was  returning 
from  a  ride  on  horseback  as  I  entered  the  gate. 
And  I1  cannot  say  which  of  the  two  pictures  is 
most  striking:  that  of  a  young  girl  in  a  rowboat 
on  the  Sweet  Waters  of  Asia,  or  that  of  a  woman, 
slim  and  athletic,  gracefully  riding  astride  a 
beautiful  horse,  her  uncovered  face  proudly  erect 
and  her  features,  now  more  mature,  proclaiming 
the  mind  and  the  will  of  a  leader! 

"She  asked  me  to  tea,  and  in  her  simple  little 
drawing-room  we  sat  with  her  husband  and  lis- 


270  SPEAKING  OF  THE  TURKS 

tened.  She  talked  to  us  of  her  aspirations  and 
hopes — not  social  aspirations,  to  which  all  young 
and  attractive  women  are  entitled,  but  the  aspira- 
tions and  hopes  of  seeing  one  day  soon  the  Turkish 
women,  her  sisters,  recognised  as  the  most  pro- 
gressive and  advanced  women  of  the  world  and 
pointed  out,  even  in  foreign  countries,  as  the 
models  of  true  womanhood." 

Little  can  be  added  to  this  picture  given  by 
Djemil  Haidar  Bey  on  the  life  in  the  Nationalist 
capital  and  the  organization  of  New  Turkey. 
Since  his  letter  was  written  events  have  proved 
that  he  had  in  no  way  exaggerated  the  efficient 
work  and  the  patriotism  of  the  Turks  in  Anatolia. 
They  have  succeeded  in  accomplishing  the  impos- 
sible. Their  countrymen  all  over  the  Old  Ottoman 
Empire  as  well  as  in  "the  confines  of  Asia  share 
fully  their  joy  as  they  had  shared  their  sorrows 
and  pains.  We  are  all  proud  of  the  unequalled 
accomplishments  of  our  people  and  we  firmly  be- 
lieve, no  matter  what  the  immediate  future  has 
in  store  for  us  of  further  struggles  and  further 
sufferings — no  matter  how  vicious  a  propaganda 
our  enemies  may  have  recourse  to  so  as  to  mini- 
mize the  effect  and  results  of  our  victories — that 
New  Turkey,  a  rejuvenated  nation  which  has 
given  such  patent  proofs  of  its  unconquerable 
spirit  of  self-sacrifice  and  indomitable  will  to  live, 
a  people  which,  despite  the  most  insurmountable 
obstacles  thrown  in  its  way  by  unfair  enemies,  has 


A  VOICE  FROM  ANATOLIA  271 

succeeded  in  emancipating  itself  from  all  political, 
economic,  religious  and  personal  prejudices — will 
shatter  completely  its  material  and  moral  chains 
and  continue  its  advance — free  and  independent 
— on  the  road  to  culture,  progress  and  civilization. 


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